Noguchi damns Parliament over Ebola vaccine trial

6/12/2015

Source: TV3network.com - The head of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) has expressed surprise at calls made by members of Parliament (MPs) that the ongoing Ebola vaccine trial should be stopped.

MPs led by Ho West member Emmanuel Bedzrah on Wednesday, June 10 backed a directive by the Minister of Health to halt the trial of the Ebola

vaccine in the Hohoe district of the Volta Region.

The legislative also summoned the Minister to appear on Tuesday to answer questions on the exercise.

The agitations have been instigated by residents in the region who fear the side effects of the vaccine.

But speaking to TV3’s Daniel Lartey in an interview on Thursday, June 11, Professor Kwadwo Koram, the Director of the NMIMR, said there are protocols that guide the trial of any vaccine in the country and those protocols were passed by Parliament and have been followed through before the Ebola vaccine trial.

“So, I felt very sad when I saw them on television against the trial,” he said.

“Why did they pass the law?” he asked.

Prof Koram pointed out that sections of the law are clear on how to write a protocol for clinical trial.

“There are [even] sections on who can do a trial. It is all there in the law.”

The Ebola virus has killed more than *10,000 ...

(* Ghanaweb News: Other sources speak of 4.000 - and not "10.000"!, but SCARE-MONGERING is part of the BIG Western PHARMA business!)

... people in West Africa. It has been recorded in five West African countries with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia the hardest hit. Ghana has not recorded any case yet.

Prof William Ampofu, Head of Virology at NMIMR, said Ghana had campaigned to get a vaccine for Ebola and so he is surprised at the turn of events when that vaccine is being trialled.

“So, now the MPs are telling us that when someone a request for Hepatitis B vaccine, we should send them to Parliament? We will do that gladly.”

Other researchers urged Parliament to pry for more information before taking decisions.

* GhanaWeb News: The Ebola Test is (and hopefully was) supposed to be for 18 months! Wiles all big Western countries refused (incl. USA, Canada and Germany + Russia), to have that trial on their own soil, Ghana ...and Africa are cheap solutions! "Test-patience", for this kind of serious tests = Phase 1 !!! =, receive from Euro 4000 - Euro 10.000 per 3 - 4 weeks (example Klinikum Berlin). And they have quiet some more resources, than Ghana....

What is: A vaccine trial is a clinical trial that aims at establishing the safety and efficacy of a vaccine prior to it being licensed...

The (USA) FDA's definition of a "serious adverse reaction" to a vaccine includes a reaction that leads to: