WHO: Ebola drug trials to start within weeks in West Africa
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Geneva (dpa) - Ebola drug trials and collection of survivors' blood for treating patients are expected to get underway in West Africa within weeks, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said Tuesday in Geneva.
The WHO and partner organisations are currently selecting treatment centres in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in order to conduct trials of experimental Ebola drugs, said Marie Paule Kieny, head ofhealth information at WHO.
Drug companies have been working to fast-track Ebola drugs and vaccines by testing them directly in West Africa, as advised by the WHO and international experts.
Kieny said that work was underway in Liberia to set up a blood collection centre for Ebola survivors in the coming weeks, where blood will be processed into serum that will be eventually be administered to infected patients.
The WHO's partner organisations are working to set up similar centres in Sierra Leone and Guinea, the two other countries worst affected by the Ebola virus.
