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New Ebola vaccine hailed as possible game changer while WHO reforms underway

Source: Xinhua | August 1, 2015, Saturday | Online Edition

THE World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that the world is getting ever-closer to finding an effective Ebola vaccine.

Despite the fact that more conclusive evidence is needed to ascertain the effectiveness of the VSV-EBOV vaccine on trial in Guinea since March 2015, WHO indicated that it has to date shown 100 percent efficacy in individuals from affected communities.

Though the vaccine has yet to be licensed, the trial ended randomization on July 26 so that all those at risk could receive the vaccine, while reducing the time needed to gather conclusive evidence for licensing purposes.

"This is an extremely promising development," said WHO Director General Margaret Chan, adding that "if proven effective, this is going to be a game changer."

Against the backdrop of this recent scientific breakthrough, Chan also updated the press regarding important reforms being implemented by WHO in light of the West Africa Ebola crisis.

She highlighted six key areas which will enhance WHO's capacity to deal with major health outbreaks such as Ebola, which has killed over 11,000 people mainly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The first measure she mentioned was the development of a unified program for emergency, which will be guided by a 19-member strong advisory group chaired by UN Special Envoy on Ebola David Nabarro.

"Internally we are implementing faster, more streamlined internal procedures for procurement, staff deployment and the management of global resources to speed up the response to any emergency," Chan said, adding that tangible results are already observable in recent responses to outbreaks and emergencies in Yemen, Nepal and South Korea.

The WHO Director-General also mentioned the organization's efforts to help countries build resilient health systems with the ability to detect outbreaks rapidly, as well as its commitment to establish a global health workforce.

"We have brought together our networks including the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network and of course the group that recruits and manages foreign medical teams," Chan explained.

Fourthly, Chan highlighted the importance of enhancing the implementation of International Health Regulations, explaining that she has "set up a committee which will meet at the end of August to start discussions."

Both WHO's commitment to continue its research and development work, and its plan to work with member states and partners to build a special financing mechanism were furthermore iterated as vital components to the reforms being put in place.

"It goes without saying that WHO is the convening authority to bring together all partners and stakeholders," Chan said, adding that WHO is currently developing a blue print for the accelerated development of medical products and the goal is to reduce the time from recognition of an outbreak to the availability of new medical tools to four months or less.

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