This advisory brief aims to provide anthropologically informed guidance to governmental and humanitarian actors involved in the Ebola response at local, national and international levels, about clinical trials for Ebola treatments, therapies and vaccines. It serves to (1) clarify and demystify some of the scientific and technical discussions around the numerous clinical trials; (2) revisit issues surrounding the compassionate use of experimental medications and therapies in and after an emergency; and (3) provide a summary of the cultural, institutional and historical factors that impact the
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The Working Group on Clinial Trials coordinated by the Ebola Response Anthropology Platform has produced a working document which considers the clinical trials that are planned as part of the Ebola outbreak response from a sociological and anthropological perspective. The document develops a series of critical and empirical questions to guide research that should be conducted within, alongside or separate from clinical interventions. The document goes on to consider questions specific to vaccine, therapeutic and convalescent blood and plasma trials.
Survivors are rapidly becoming a strategic population for the Ebola Outbreak response. The public health potential of this group appear to be manifold—from safe burials and the care for orphan children to community outreach and the donation of blood for clinical trials. There are a number of stories emerging from the field of survivors who refuse to leave Ebola Treatment Units, offering their support in caring for new patients. Data regarding the status and experience of survivors is somewhat thin, although anthropological experience of the
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Held as part of the African Studies Association conference 2014, Ebola: The Challenges united an esteemed panel of speakers to discuss ways in which academia can mobilise to support those effected by the ebola outbreak.
