(Newswire.net — November 4, 2014) — In a speech at a regional conference in Cotonou, Benin, WHO Leader Dr. Margaret Chan said the drive for profit was one reason no vaccine had yet been found for Ebola. She also denounced the absence of effective public health systems in the worst-affected countries.
So far, at least 13,567 people are known to have contracted the Ebola virus and 4,951 have died, according to the latest data on the WHO website.
WHO warned for a long time, of the consequences of greed in drug development and of neglect in public health, Dr. Chan said.
“Two WHO arguments that have fallen on deaf ears for decades are now out there with consequences that all the world can see, every day, on prime-time TV news”, she said.
Dr. Chan pointed out that the Ebola virus was discovered back in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zair), however, “there was no incentive to develop a vaccine until this year, when Ebola became a broader threat,” she said.
“A profit-driven industry does not invest in products for markets that cannot pay,” she said concluding that WHO has been trying to make this issue visible for ages.
Ebola crisis is characterized by the WHO as the most severe acute public health emergency seen in modern times.
With a small outbreak in Nigeria and isolated cases in western countries, efforts to find a vaccine have been stepped up. The UN Security Council declared the Ebola crisis a threat to international security, At an emergency meeting in September, as Ebola was devastating the population in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
Public health authorities reported on Oct. 24 that they hoped to begin trials of Ebola vaccines as early as December, however, the results of its effectiveness won’t be released until April 2015.
Researchers have been testing two experimental vaccines in healthy volunteers in the United States and other countries. Testing on humans of at least five other vaccines could begin in early 2015, WHO officials have said.