Ebola: Medicins Sans Frontieres to start clinical trials in Africa

The medical charity, Medicins Sans Frontieres, says three of its Ebola treatment centres will host separate research projects within Africa.

Since the outbreak of the virus in February, MSF has deployed some of its personnel to the continent to help battle the disease.

MSF spokeswoman, Annick Antierens, said the process would restore hope to sufferers of the virus and also help to bring the outbreak under control.

“This is an unprecedented international partnership which represents hope for patients to finally get a real treatment,” she said.

“Each patient who consents to be part of a trial will have the potential risks of being subjected to a new therapy clearly explained.”

The trial would involve using the blood of recovered Ebola patients to treat sick people.

Reacting to MSF’s initiative, Peter Horby, a professor at the University of Oxford, said: “There’s a great need for these trials.

“There’s both the humanitarian need, a tragedy for individuals and for communities and we need to do everything we can to offer some hope to those communities.

“But there’s also scientific need, we have these products which may or may not work in patients with Ebola and the only way we can test them is during an epidemic.”

The first set of trials are due to start in December and initial results could be available in February 2015.

Meanwhile, Liberia’s president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has lifted the state of emergency imposed in the country.

She said the curfew was not relaxed “because the fight against Ebola is over”, but as a result of “progress being made in the country”.

In a radio address, she told the nation that night curfews would be reduced, weekly markets could take place and preparations were being made for the re-opening of schools.

The Ebola outbreak is thought to have infected more than 14,000 people, particularly in West Africa. The death toll has risen to 5,160.