News outlets report on the lack of global coordination around the development of treatments and vaccines for Ebola.

Bloomberg Businessweek: How the U.S. Screwed Up in the Fight Against Ebola
“…It’s too early to say whether ZMapp was vital to the Americans’ survival. There were a limited number of doses available. Mapp [Pharmaceuticals] ran out after having given doses to the two Americans, a Spanish priest, and doctors in two West African countries, although it declined to say how many. And that raised fair questions: Why hadn’t the promising treatment gone through human clinical trials sooner, and why were there so few doses on hand?…” (Greeley/Chen, 9/24).

Bloomberg News: Ebola Shot Turned Down by WHO Is Best Hope as Virus Rages
“The calls started coming in August to the office of GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty from the head of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan. The Ebola outbreak was raging out of control and Chan needed the drugmaker’s vaccine as quickly as possible. The sudden sense of urgency for an Ebola vaccine was an about face from a few months earlier when Glaxo contacted the WHO, asking whether its vaccine could help with the outbreak. At that time, the company was told the focus was on containment and the WHO didn’t have a policy for using vaccines in this type of situation. ‘We’ll get back to you’ was the message, said Ripley Ballou, head of Glaxo’s Ebola vaccine program…” (Kitamura/Pettypiece, 9/26).

Reuters: Canada says poor coordination bogging down Ebola vaccine shipment
“Poor global coordination has bogged down Canada’s efforts to deliver its Ebola vaccine to Africa, Canadian International Development Minister Christian Paradis said on Thursday…” (Nickel, 9/25).