WHO Statement Regarding the 2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa

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(Note: thought this was worth keeping an eye on. We all know it's not the 1% lying dead in the streets in Liberia.)


WHO Statement on the Meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee Regarding the 2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
8 August 2014

The first meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) [IHR (2005)] regarding the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD, or “Ebola”) outbreak in West Africa was held by teleconference on Wednesday, 6 August 2014 from 13:00 to 17:30 and on Thursday, 7 August 2014 from 13:00 to 18:30 Geneva time (CET).

Members and advisors of the Emergency Committee met by teleconference on both days of the meeting1. The following IHR (2005) States Parties participated in the informational session of the meeting on Wednesday, 6 August 2014: Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.

During the informational session, the WHO Secretariat provided an update on and assessment of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The above-referenced States Parties presented on recent developments in their countries, including measures taken to implement rapid control strategies, and existing gaps and challenges in the outbreak response ...

More here: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2014/ebola-20140808/en/


Medical ethicists to meet on use of experimental Ebola drugs

WHO announcement comes after controversy over two Americans – but no Africans – being treated with Ebola drug
August 8, 2014 8:41AM ET
by Courtney Brooks @courtneyrbrooks

Medical ethicists will meet next week to discuss the use of experimental medicines in the West Africa Ebola outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the talks in the wake of a controversial decision to treat two infected American aid workers with an Ebola “serum,” never before tested on humans, called ZMapp. The move sparked debate over whether using experimental Ebola treatments is ethical — and why Africans have not been offered the same option.

“We are in an unusual situation in this outbreak. We have a disease with a high fatality rate without any proven treatment or vaccine,” Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general at the WHO, said in a Thursday statement announcing the meeting. "We need to ask the medical ethicists to give us guidance on what the responsible thing to do is.” The statement did not give a location for the meeting ...j

More here: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/8/ebola-ethics-drugs.html

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1. Also a historical perspective from one of the GD posters today -

Last edited Fri Aug 8, 2014, 11:02 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025354318