WHO prequalifies an Ebola vaccine

Publication date: compiling official national information made it easier to compare policies and research needs across countries.

WHO reports that the seventeenth observance in Ghana took place on 3 September 2019.

At the gathering, WHO discussed African institutions evaluating safety and quality of traditional treatments.

The WHO account notes research on traditional remedies proposed for malaria, diabetes and other conditions; it does not establish efficacy.

The 2019 national commemoration put research, practitioners and public health in conversation.

Prequalification helped pave the way for vaccine access in countries at risk of outbreaks.

Clinical research and public health response informed the vaccine’s path to prequalification.

The 12 November decision facilitated access but did not mean Ebola risk was gone.

The released genetic information enabled laboratories in many countries to begin developing diagnostic tests.

The newly available sequence let international teams compare the virus with other coronaviruses.