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Use of untested drugs to treat Ebola ethical
12.08.2014 15:53 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
The WHO (World Health Organization) says it is ethical to offer untested drugs to patients infected with the Ebola virus, UN Radio reports.
WHO says the large number of people affected by the Ebola outbreak in west Africa and the high death rate have prompted calls to use untested medical interventions to try to save the lives of patients and to curb the epidemic.
In meanwhile, a team of medical experts who have been meeting in Geneva however recommended that certain ethical criteria including, obtaining informed consent from patients and families, freedom of choice, confidentiality and involvement of the community must be applied before administering any untested medical interventions.
The recommendations follow the recent treatment of two health workers, who had been infected with the Ebola virus and were thereupon treated with an experimental medicine.
So far, there is a limited supply of the drugs available and so the questions have been raised about who should receive the treatment.
It is to be admitted, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has already killed over 1,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
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