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WHO exploring use of experimental treatments for Ebola
WHO is convening a panel of medical ethicists to evaluate the use of experimental treatments in the Ebola outbreak, according to a statement.
Although there are currently no registered medications or vaccines against the virus, there are experimental options in development. Two American missionary workers who contracted Ebola while in Liberia received an experimental treatment that had never been tested in humans, raising questions about whether experimental treatments should be used in the outbreak, and who should receive the limited amount available.
“We are in an unusual situation in this outbreak,” Marie-Paule Kieny, PhD, WHO Assistant Director-General, said in the statement. “We need to ask the medical ethicists to give us guidance on what the responsible thing to do is.”