Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa water, Sanitation Mar- Apr 2015 Vol.10 No.2 | Page 34

Health
UN health agency announces start of Ebola vaccine testing in worst-affected areas of Guinea
Assistant Director-General Marie-Paule Kieny, who leads
the Ebola Research and Development effort at WHO, said:
“An effective vaccine to control current flare-ups could
be the game-changer to finally end this epidemic and an
insurance policy for any future ones.”
Explaining the trial strategy, WHO said it involves the
identification of a newly diagnosed Ebola case – the
“index case” – and the tracing of all his/her contacts. The
contacts are vaccinated if they give their consent.

Working towards zero cases of Ebola. Photo: UNMEER/Martine Perret

On 5 March 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO)
announced that it will begin conducting Ebola vaccination
trials in Guinea within a week, which if found effective,
could be the “game-changer to finally end the epidemic”
that has affected nearly 24,000 people, mostly in West
Africa.
“We have worked hard to reach this point,” WHO
Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, said in Geneva.
“There has been massive mobilization on the part of
the affected countries and all partners to accelerate the
development and availability of proven interventions,” she
continued. “If a vaccine is found effective, it will be the
first preventive tool against Ebola in history.”
Based on promising data from initial clinical trials in late
2014, WHO said it will launch a Phase III trial in Guinea
on 7 March to test the so-called VSV-EBOV vaccine for
efficacy and effectiveness to prevent Ebola in collaboration
with the Health Ministry of Guinea, Médecins Sans
Frontières (MSF), Epicentre and the Norwegian Institute
of Public Health.

“The objectives of the trial are two-fold: to assess if the
vaccine protects the contacts who were vaccinated and if
vaccinating the contacts will create a buffer – or ring – of
protected individuals – around the index case to prevent
further spread of the infection,” WHO said.
“Vaccination will also be proposed to frontline workers in
the area where the trial will take place,” the agency added.
Since September 2014, according to WHO, the two most
advanced Ebola vaccines have been evaluated in about 15
countries in Africa, Europe and North America.”
“The VSV-EBOV vaccine was selected for the planned
trial based on a framework of parameters developed by
the WHO Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee
on Ebola Experimental interventions,” it said. “Criteria
included acceptable safety profile, induction of appropriate
immune responses, including neutralizing antibodies, and
the timely availability of sufficient supplies of vaccine
doses.
WHO, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation and vaccine alliance GAVI are
collaborating with the affected countries to develop plans
and strategies for large-scale introduction, should this be
needed.

WHO said the vaccination will take place in areas of Basse
Guinée, the region that currently has the highest number
of cases in the country.

WHO said the vaccines’ manufacturers have assured that
enough vaccine will be available in the coming months and
that financial resources are in place to procure and make
vaccines available in the affected countries.

The announcement came as the agency, in its latest
update on Ebola, reported 132 new confirmed cases had
been reported in West Africa in the week to 1 March, an
increase from the previous week of 99 new cases.
Liberia reported no new confirmed cases this week, the
first time since the week of 26 May 2014, but the weekly
number of confirmed cases has increased in both Sierra
Leone and Guinea, according to WHO.

Orange, USAID join forces on mHealth in
Africa

Transmission remains widespread in Sierra Leone and
Guinea, and the agency also reported a marked increase in
case numbers compared with the previous week. Unsafe
burials continue to occur in both these countries.
34

Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • March - April 2015

The vaccine VSV-EBOV was developed by the Public
Health Agency of Canada. The vaccine was licenced to
NewLink Genetics, and on November 24, 2014, NewLink
Genetics and Merck announced their collaboration on the
vaccine.

WASHINGTON––The U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) and global telecommunications
operator Orange announced a new alliance to develop
innovations in mobile health (mHealth) at the Global