The Canadian Public Health Agency has offered to release 1000 dose
of a made-in-Canada experimental Ebola virus vaccine known as VSV-EBOV
which has never been tested on humans but has shown to be effective in the
treatment of the disease in animals.
In a statement released yesterday August 12th, the Canadian Health
Minister Rona Ambrose said the World Health Organization's Director
general, Margaret Chan, has approved of the donation.
The Minister also revealed that Canada will be donating
$185,000 to the World Health Organization for the prevention and
control of the deadly virus in Africa. Canada has only 1500 of the experimental
vaccine and would be sending 1000 of it to Africa. Continue...
"I
was pleased to offer the experimental vaccine developed by Canadian researchers
as a global resource to help fight this outbreak," she said, adding that
between 800 and 1,000 doses would be donated to the WHO.
The Minister in the statement added that "Canada feels this experimental vaccine is a global resource, so in response we are sharing it with the international community, while keeping a small supply in Canada."
The news comes hours after the World Health Organization said a
panel of experts advised that it would be ethical to use untested drugs
and vaccines in this raging epidemic, which is several times larger than
any previous outbreak.
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