Who should receive experimental treatment (of Ebola) - Essay Example

of the of the Recipients of Experimental Treatment for Ebola Recipients of Experimental Treatment for Ebola Introduction"Experimental treatment should be need based rather than being based on nationality or race."The following discussion proves this contention. The Ebola virus has been increasingly causing death among the people of West Africa. It was disclosed by the World Health Organization that it had recorded around 4,300 cases of its incidence as of 9 September 2014. Since, a large number of infected people die at home, this estimate has been regarded as a gross underestimation.

In fact, some entities had placed the number of deaths due to the Ebola virus at 12,000 (The Economist, 2014, p. 85). The extant drugs for treating Ebola virus infections are in the experimental stages of development. In the absence of approval for a drug, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) can permit access to latently promising drugs, via other channels. One such mechanism is the emergency Investigational New Drug (IND) initiative (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). The Ebola virus has been principally restricted to underdeveloped nations of the world.

Consequently, no vaccine or drug to address it has been produced, despite its presence for nearly four decades. The current outbreak of this disease has been of such gravity that the developed nations have been seriously striving to produce vaccines and drugs to deal with it. The rapidity with which this dread infection is spreading has necessitated an approach that ignores the existing rules governing the delivery of new drugs. The WHO clearly stated that when certain conditions were satisfied, it would not be unethical to provide vaccines and drugs, in the experimental stage to prevent infection (The Economist, 2014, p. 85). The experimental serum ZMapp, developed by the US, was injected to two missionaries of the US, after they had been infected with the Ebola virus in Liberia.

These missionaries were subsequently relocated to the US and were undergoing treatment in that nation. In the aftermath of this incident, the WHO conducted a meeting to discuss the ethical issues involved in administering experimental drugs to individuals infected with the Ebola virus (Dionne, 2014). In addition, this drug had also been given to a small number of US health officials who had been infected with the Ebola virus in West Africa. The apparent success of this drug in combating the dread Ebola virus induced the US health officials to ask some of the most advanced biology laboratories to present it with plans for producing it (The Guardian, 2014).

As such, the provision of healthcare is biased, and the above evidence demonstrates it adequately. The American missionaries had been given the promising new drug, whereas no attempt was being made to succor the large number of infected people of West Africa. Evidently, the life of a white American was deemed to be worth much more than that of a black African hailing from some of the least developed regions of the world (Dionne, 2014).Conclusion During epidemics, it is essential to provide rapid treatment for the individuals engaged in critical occupations, such as healthcare workers.

This has been clearly demonstrated with regard to the outbreak of Ebola, which is a highly infectious disease that almost always ends in the death of the infected individual. With regard to drugs in the experimental stage, these should be provided to the healthcare workers and patients of the nation where there is an epidemic of the disease. Morally, the demand of such people on these drugs is the highest. Furthermore, providing these healthcare workers with such drugs, will enable them to recover from the infection and to continue in their efforts to help infected individuals.

As such, this discussion establishes the contention that experimental treatment should be administered, to the people, based on need and not on the basis of their race or nationality. List of ReferencesCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014, August 29). Ebola (Ebola Virus Disease). Retrieved October 21, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/qa-experimental-treatments.htmlDionne, K. Y. (2014, August 10). Ebola experimental treatment only for the exceptional.

Retrieved October 21, 2014, from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/08/10/ebola-experimental-treatment-only-for-the-exceptional/The Economist. (2014, September). Fast-tracking treatments: Ebola. The Economist, 412(8904), 85.The Guardian. (2014, October 17). US labs asked for proposals to produce experimental Ebola drug ZMapp. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/17/us-labs-proposals-produce-ebola-drug-zmapp