WHO：Consideration of Introducing Experimental Drugs against Ebola for African Epidemics

Till 7th, Ebola virus that prevailed in many western African countries for months has caused at least 932 deaths and over 1700 persons infected. According to World Health Organization (WHO) on 6th, it would convene a meeting next week discussing whether to input the drugs in test into use to settle the extremely urgency in western African countries. Previously, two American patients used an antiviral serum produced by American bio-pharmaceutical company Zmapp and got remarkable curative effects, which caused the affected countries mad with joy. However, WHO that advocated setting security as the precondition for all held a careful attitude for this, concerning that using drugs without clinical test would produce other unexpected side effects as well as a series moral problems cause by that.

In accordance to AFP on 7th, Dr. Kieny, the assistant director-general made a statement on 6th that: “For a disease with extremely high lethality, we have not got any proved therapy or vaccine.” For whether to support using the drugs in experimental stage, she showed that: “We need the ideas from medical ethicists.” WHO concerned the questionable security of drugs without clinical tests before then, however, with the reducing of the current number of drugs for experiments, how to allocate these drugs reasonably was a problem. It was said by WHO side that it would discuss the moral problems involved from using experimental drugs next week.

Compared with the cautiousness of WHO, the affected western African countries have been “unable to mange so much”. Chukwu, Nigerian Minister of Health, has queried health department of USA for related issues of the introduction of experimental therapies, reported Reuters. Liberia has got even more chaos. Todd, the vice-minister of Health Department of this country indicated that Ebola patients and their dependents clamped down on the authorities after they learnt the occurrence of antiviral serum. People were dissatisfied and queried that: “You said Ebola incurable, then what Americans are doing?” Todd said: “This was the most troublesome thing.”

According to Reuters, there are at least 3 experimental drugs got pleasing results in animal tests. Despite of the famous antiviral serum Zmapp, Tekmira, a Vancouver pharmaceutical enterprise, and Profectus, a biotechnology in New York State, also obtained remarkable achievements in their respective manufacture of drugs against Ebola virus.

It was reported in Fox News, USA, on 7th that American President Obama had held a cautious attitude for whether to “give a green light” for experimental drugs in a news release on 6th. He believed that currently “there is a lack of adequate information for demonstration”. “We need scientific guidance. For whether these drugs are helpful, we have not enough evidences…But what we could make sure is that, with sufficiently perfect public medical facilities, Ebola virus could be controlled. As well as the acquaintance of the development of new drugs, we at present still need to pay attention to current public health facilities,” said Obama.