The World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday said the first doses of a new trial vaccine for Ebola will be sent to Uganda next week, reported The UN News.
Tedros said a WHO expert committee has evaluated three candidate Ebola vaccines and decided to include them all in the planned trial.
“WHO and Uganda’s Minster of Health have considered and accepted the committee’s recommendation,” he told reporters.
Dr Tedros said the first doses of vaccine are expected to be shipped to Uganda next week. He added that a clinical trial programme would test whether the jab was effective against a Sudanese variant of Ebola.
The outbreak was declared on 20 September. Since then, the Ugandan authorities and other international health organizations have been working under an UN-coordinated global effort to accelerate the development and deployment of vaccines for use in trials.
The health authorities have reported at least 141 confirmed Ebola cases to date, and 22 probable cases. There have been a total 55 confirmed deaths, with probable deaths at 22. 73 people have recovered from the disease.
Meanwhile, a separate group of health experts has chosen two investigational therapeutics for a trial, as well as a trial design, which they have submitted with the UN health body and the Ugandan authorities for approval.
The WHO chief noted that conflict, war, climate change, and the global food and energy crises have become burning issues for global leadersand they all have profound implications for health.
“The lack of food and energy, or their over-consumption, can have severe consequences for health and economies,” Tedros said.
He added that it is essential to protect health against the impacts of these crises as it also helps to protect economies and societies.
In related news, on Tuesday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni gave an assurance to foreign visitors that the Ebola outbreak in the country was under control. He said that progress had been made in controlling the epidemic.
