Ebola Epidemic In West Africa: 3 US Facilities Ready To Help
Ebola Epidemic In West Africa: 3 US Facilities Ready To Help
West Africa is suffering the worst Ebola outbreak in its history. The presidents of Nigeria and Liberia have both declared a national emergency on account of the disease. Two other nations Guinea and Sierra Leone are also struggling to cope with the disease. Such is the fear of the stricken Africans that relatives of Ebola victims are leaving bodies on the streets. As the governments of the 4 West African nations struggle to cope with the disease, lack of adequate public healthcare infrastructure is hampering their efforts. Developed nations such as US can help them if initiatives for the same are taken in time. 3 US facilities are ready to make vaccines and therapeutics in the event of a public health threat. Given the rate at which Ebola has spread to the West African nations, the public health emergency is already here. WHO has declared the outbreak of Ebola to be a international public health emergency.
The 3 US facilities called Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing were set up by the US department of health and humans services in collaboration with private industries to scale up the treatment for pandemics as well as radiological, chemical, nuclear or biological threats . Expertise to switch production lines to manufacture a vaccine in the event of a pandemic or bio-terrorism are possessed by these centres. "They know our number and they can call us 24 hours a day," Brett Giroir, chief executive of Texas A&M Health Science Center, site of one of the facilities has been quoted by the media as having said "We are prepared."
The US has understandably emphasised the importance of quarantines but global health agencies can also help. Experimental drugs many of whom have been tested on non-human subjects only are readily available. But though 2 Americans have been given one of the experimental drugs available, the question of whether such a drug should be sent to West Africa is being debated . The WHO has convened a group of bioethicists to consider whether patients should receive the treatments or vaccines. If a way out could be found to help the patients in West Africa, then the containment and elimination of the Ebola virus may become easier. Ebola treatments which have shown promising results include antibody cocktail from Mapp Biopharmaceutical as well as a Profectus vaccine from New York. An RNA interference drug is being developed by Vancouver based Tekmira Pharmaceuticals which has just received the approval from USFDA to conduct safety trials on human volunteers.
The three advanced labs are fully equipped for extending help. The Texas facility has collaborated with British pharma company GlaxoSmithKline Plc . The second centre is led by Emergent Biosolutions in Maryland in partnership with universities. The third centre is in Holly Springs, North Carolina led by Swiss company Novartis AG. The operations of the 3 centres have been funded with $400 million from HHS. The centers have the capacity to produce at least 50 million doses of vaccines against pandemic virus within 12 weeks . Unfortunately the US legislation holds that it will only be for US use and can be extended to other nations in the event of a national security. The US has the power to do good if it can meet the bioethical considerations in a rational yet compassionate way. Experts will no doubt find a solution to the bioethical tangle if they view the gravity of the situation in its totality. Left unchecked , the virus will only spread and many of the nations facing the disease lack public health infrastructure to cope with an epidemic of this magnitude. We are living in a connected world with global citizens. All nations should extend a helping hand to those in need. With the deadliest Ebola outbreak of all times rampant in West Africa, the US and other technologically advanced nations should try to help. The 3 US facilities are willing to meet the challenge if given the clearance. When it comes to saving human lives, any number is good provided the intention is to help those in need. Another way out will only be available in 2015 at the latest according to WHO.
The U.S. NIAID under the National Institutes of Health is also supporting research work on other early-stage Ebola vaccines, including one from Johnson & Johnson's Crucell unit that is scheduled to enter Phase I clinical testing in late 2015 or early 2016. The Crucell vaccine is designed to guarantee additional protection against Marburg which is another severe and highly fatal disease caused by a virus from the same family as Ebola. The 4 West African nations will have to face hardships as the Ebola disease is destroying lives and livelihoods and only committed support from other nations across the world will help them to combat this deadly disease.
