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Guinea’s health ministry last Friday informed WHO of a case of Marburg virus disease in the southwest of the country, in a man who died 8 days after the onset of symptoms. This is the first known case of Marburg in West Africa. There is no licensed vaccine for Marburg, although there are vaccines in development, and WHO is working with our partners to seek opportunities to evaluate them during this outbreak through the R&D Blueprint for Epidemics .
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In October, the WHO released the results of the solidarity trial, which tested four treatments for COVID-19, involving nearly 13,000 patients in 500 hospitals, in 30 countries. Today, we are happy to announce the next phase of the Solidarity trial, called Solidarity PLUS.
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Solidarity PLUS will test three drugs: artesunate, a treatment for severe malaria; imatinib, a medicine for certain cancers; and infliximab, a treatment for immune system disorders such as Crohn’s disease. The trial involves thousands of researchers at more than 600 hospitals in 52 countries.
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I would like to thank the governments, hospitals, researchers and patients participating in the trial, as well as the three manufacturers who donated the drugs for the trial: Ipca, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson.
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Hello, good afternoon and good evening.
Guinea’s health ministry last Friday informed WHO of a case of Marburg virus disease in the southwest of the country, in a man who died 8 days after the onset of symptoms. This is the first known case of Marburg in West Africa.
WHO and our partners are helping the Guinean Ministry of Health investigate the source of the epidemic, trace contacts and educate the local community on how to protect themselves.
About 150 contacts have been identified and are being followed up, including three family members and a health worker, who have been identified as high-risk close contacts.
Marburg is a very different virus from the one that causes COVID-19, but many parts of the response are the same: isolating and caring for those infected, tracing and quarantining their contacts, and involving local communities in the response.
There is no licensed vaccine for Marburg, although there are vaccines under development, and WHO is working with our partners to seek opportunities to evaluate them during this outbreak through the R&D Blueprint for Epidemics.
In contrast, we have several effective vaccines against COVID-19, and yet cases and deaths continue to rise.
Last week, the 200 millionth case of COVID-19 was reported to the WHO, just six months after the world surpassed 100 million reported cases. And we know the actual number of cases is much higher.
As I said recently, if we get to 300 million and how quickly we get there, it depends on all of us.
At the current trajectory, we could pass 300 million reported cases by early next year. But we can change that.
We’re all in the same boat, but the world doesn’t act like that.
We already have many tools to prevent, test, and treat COVID-19, including oxygen, dexamethasone, and IL-6 blockers. But we need more, for patients at all ends of the clinical spectrum, from mild to severe illness. And we need trained health workers to use them in a safe environment.
In October, the WHO released the results of the solidarity trial, which tested four treatments for COVID-19, involving nearly 13,000 patients in 500 hospitals, in 30 countries.
This trial showed that the four drugs had little or no effect on hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We await the final results of this trial next month.
Today, we are happy to announce the next phase of the Solidarity trial, called Solidarity PLUS.
Solidarity PLUS will test three drugs: artesunate, a treatment for severe malaria; imatinib, a medicine for certain cancers; and infliximab, a treatment for immune system disorders such as Crohn’s disease.
These drugs were chosen by a panel of independent experts who assess all the available evidence on all potential therapies.
The trial involves thousands of researchers at more than 600 hospitals in 52 countries.
I would like to thank the governments, hospitals, researchers and patients participating in the trial, as well as the three manufacturers who donated the drugs for the trial: Ipca, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson.
One of the first countries to enroll patients in the Solidarity PLUS trial is Finland.
Today, we are honored to be joined by the Finnish Minister of Social Affairs and Health, Her Excellency Hanna Sarkkinen.
Your Excellency, thank you very much for being with us today. It’s your turn to speak.
[MINISTER SARKKINEN ADDRESSES THE MEDIA]
Thank you, Your Excellency, and thank you for your leadership in advancing therapeutic research.
One of the strengths of the Solidarity PLUS trial is that it is a truly global study, involving researchers from all over the world.
Today we are joined by two principal investigators of the Solidarity PLUS trial: Professor Samba Sow, Director of the Vaccine Development Center in Mali, and Professor Marco Medina, of the National Autonomous University of Honduras.
Professor Sow is also the WHO special envoy for COVID-19 in Africa.
Samba, thank you for your leadership in the pandemic, your participation in Solidarity PLUS, and for joining us today. It’s your turn to speak.
[PROFESSOR SOW ADDRESSES THE MEDIA]
Thank you very much Samba.
Professor Marco Medina is no stranger to WHO either. He is a neurologist and director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Community Intervention in Epilepsy in Honduras.
Professor Medina, thank you for joining us. We know that Honduras is one of many countries facing an increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths. We look forward to hearing from you on the situation in Honduras and how you think the Solidarity PLUS trial can help you.
It’s your turn to speak.
[PROFESSOR MEDINA ADDRESSES THE MEDIA]
Thank you, Professor Medina. We appreciate your commitment and support. I sincerely hope that one or more of the drugs tested in the Solidarity PLUS trial will prove effective in the treatment of COVID-19.
WHO remains committed to working with you and all of the researchers and patients in the trial to advance science, find new solutions and do everything in solidarity.
Tarik, back to you.
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