In a note on Monday I did opine how failure of leadership and the taking of bold epidemiological and public health decisions had contributed to the Ebola outbreak becoming a pandemic in the west African subregion. It was my view that the innuendo and blame game was only of comic value. I did try and explain why until wavers were given countries that had invested hugely in research into a possible vaccine for Ebola could not come to the subregions aid until the right documentation and legal huddles and obstacles had been cleared. I was clear enough in my mind, that the WHO had done the right thing by taking any further decision making out of the hands of the subregional political and public health leaders as they were being conservative and not pragmatic in their thinking. Many who understand the field of drug licensing and regulation would agree that the orphan drug option taken by the WHO is a slippery slope and uncharted territory, many arguments can be made for and against the medical ethics thereof. This is where the word leadership comes in handy, true leaders put their people first, true leaders take calculated risk based on advice and evidence, true leaders know that even when they get it wrong they would have acted in good faith. Thats what the leadership of the WHO have done, there is no human data to back the use of unlicensed and untested medicines but in the face of unparalleled deaths they have triggered the Orphan Drug route that has resulted in some action. Now Canada are also acting by releasing 1000 doses of a potential medicine with information based only on animal trials, big risk yes but worth it. I hope our subregional leaders are taking note and learn. bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28767695
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 06:48:09 +0000
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