WHO Head Criticizes Drug Companies For Slow Ebola Vaccine Research; UNICEF Boosts Staff In West Africa

News outlets report on WHO Director-General Margaret Chan’s criticism of the pharmaceutical industry’s historically slow research into diseases mainly found in developing nations, like Ebola, and UNICEF’s plans to boost its staff in affected nations.

New York Times: WHO Assails Delay in Ebola Vaccine
“The leader of the World Health Organization criticized the drug industry on Monday, saying that the drive for profit was one reason no vaccine had yet been found for Ebola. In a speech at a regional conference in Cotonou, Benin, Dr. Margaret Chan, the director general of the WHO, also denounced the glaring absence of effective public health systems in the worst-affected countries…” (Gladstone, 11/3).

U.N. News Centre: UNICEF to boost staff in Ebola-hit countries; U.N. health chief deplores lagging vaccine research
“As the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today that it plans to boost its staff in countries on the frontlines of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the head of the U.N. World Health Organization attributed the lack of research into cures and vaccines for Ebola to the fact that the disease has historically been confined to poor African nations…” (11/3).

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