A new Ebola treatment trial is underway in Congo, the epidemic exceeding 400 cases

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"While our goal remains to end this epidemic, the launch of the randomized controlled trial in the DRC is an important step toward the definitive discovery of an Ebola treatment that will save lives," said the director. General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. statement Monday.

"Until now, patients were treated according to a protocol of compbadionate use, with promising drugs and a good safety profile in the laboratory," he said. "The giant leap that the DRC is making now will clarify what is working best and save many lives in the years to come, and we hope one day to say that the death and suffering caused by Ebola are behind us."

The new epidemic – the second this year – began in North Kivu and spread to the Ituri province in the east of the country. The two provinces, which are among the most populous in the country, are bordering on Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.

The epidemic is the tenth time since 1976 that the Ebola virus has hit the Congo.

An accumulation of evidence

More than 160 patients have been treated with experimental therapeutics as part of a protocol called Emergency Surveillance Use of Experimental and Unregistered Interventions, designed not to test drugs, but rather for use in the form of compbadionate use, for example.
With the new trial, treatments may be offered to patients as part of the study, according to WHO.

The trial is coordinated by WHO and directed and sponsored by the National Institute of Biomedical Research of Congo, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Allergy and Disease Infectious diseases of the United States and the Alliance for International Medical Action, among others.

Last month, WHO convened a meeting of international organizations, UN partners, countries at risk of Ebola, drug manufacturers and other actors to agree on a framework to trials at the next possible Ebola outbreak.

Over time, trials could lead to an accumulation of evidence and research that will help the world better understand the effectiveness of currently available drugs for the Ebola virus and new drugs that may be developed.

"The security situation is a major obstacle"

The Congo is experiencing not only an Ebola outbreak, but also a long-term humanitarian crisis that includes armed conflict and intermittent violence, which has hampered efforts to stem the deadly epidemic in the north. is.

Congolese health workers face violence as Ebola spreads
The Minister of Public Health, Oly Ilunga Kalenga, said this month that violence against health officials and civilians by militant groups fighting for control in the affected region had thwarted efforts to contain the epidemic.
"No other epidemic in the world has been as complex as the one we are currently experiencing," Kalenga said in a statement. video statement posted on Twitter.
In October, two health workers died in an attack, and 11 civilians were killed in Beni, a city of 800,000 residents and the epicenter of the epidemic.
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, then condemned the killings, saying he was also "deeply troubled" by the deaths of the two Congolese health workers.

The United States decided that it was no longer safe to have government personnel on the ground in Beni, said Tim Morrison, special badistant to the president and chief director of weapons of mbad destruction and of biological defense at the National Security Council.

Staff have been removed from the most affected areas for security reasons.

"The security situation remains precarious and the US government's position is that there is no disagreement, the safety of our staff, the safety of our staff, the safety of our staff is our top priority, "said Morrison.

"We are looking at all the options available to us to provide technical badistance and expertise to the region, but the security situation is a major hurdle," he said. "It is a specific security challenge, but it does not in any way prevent our ability to provide financial and technical badistance."

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