- Статьи
- World
- Get away from the strains: Russia has stepped up efforts in the international fight against Ebola
Get away from the strains: Russia has stepped up efforts in the international fight against Ebola
For the first time, the Russian delegation is participating in the session of the WHO regional committee for Africa, where the fight against Ebola is being discussed, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. Moscow has already sent 7.5 thousand domestic test systems to the affected region, created in just four days. Russian scientists are also ready to offer their vaccines against the new strain. Meanwhile, the number of deaths from the disease has already exceeded 2.7 thousand. About how Moscow is trying to help Africa, who is blocking the supply of its drugs and why it has not been possible to defeat the fever so far — in the Izvestia article.
How the Russian Federation helps in the fight against Ebola
In DR Congo, the number of confirmed Ebola cases has reached 5.6 thousand, and the number of victims has exceeded 2.7 thousand, according to the latest data from the country's National Institute of Public Health. According to estimates by Save the Children, every fourth victim is a child. The epidemic, for which there is still no official cure, has rapidly spread to six provinces and spread to neighboring Uganda. The dry figures hide terrible personal tragedies: for example, 30-year-old Noella Masika Vignini lost 17 family members to the virus, including her parents, grandparents.
The death rate from the virus reaches 30-50%, but even the survivors — and there are just over a thousand of them — turn into outcasts. Others shy away from them for fear of infection or accuse them of collusion with the authorities. Such people are bullied, and employers close their doors to them.
The problem has reached an international level: the 76th session of the WHO Regional committee for Africa is currently taking place in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. Health ministers from 47 countries, officials and experts gathered to discuss the main threat — the Ebola outbreak caused by a rare strain of Bundibugio.
For the first time, a Russian delegation led by Deputy Minister of Health Oleg Salagai is taking part in a meeting of the WHO committee for Africa, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alimov told Izvestia. The session started on August 25 and will last until the 28th.
— Russia attaches great importance to international efforts to counter the spread of Ebola. We are actively working both through bilateral channels and through the World Health Organization," the diplomat said.
He added that Russian experts are officially included in the WHO emergency committee, convened by the Director General of the organization. The second meeting of this committee was held the other day. The participants recommended maintaining the health emergency status at the national level.
Russia has already contributed to the fight against the epidemic. In just four days, Rospotrebnadzor created tests to diagnose the virus. DR Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Uganda have already received more than 7.5 thousand such systems, Alimov said. The Russian development finds the virus even before the first symptoms appear, which allows doctors to isolate patients in time and stop the spread of the disease.
Applications for test systems come even from countries outside Africa. However, attacks by local residents on doctors are preventing people from saving lives. So, in Mongbwala, rioters have already burned down two medical centers and stormed into the hospital, demanding to give them the bodies of deceased relatives. In addition, DR Congo is gripped by conflict between the authorities and the rebels.
The advantage of the Russian vaccine
Vaccination remains the main protection against the virus. Back in May, the head of the Ministry of Health, Mikhail Murashko, said that Russia wanted to discuss the use of our vaccine with WHO. The session in Ethiopia is ideal for such negotiations, but in fact the international structure is still choosing other drugs.
Ebola has several strains. The deadliest is Zaire, and the current outbreak was caused by Bundibugio. According to the UN, on August 20, DR Congo requested 70,000 doses of the German vaccine Ervebo from international stocks. This is a WHO-recommended drug, but it was created specifically against the Zaire strain. It is still unknown whether the German vaccine will protect against the current Bundibugio.
— The effectiveness of these drugs for vaccinating the population against the new strain has not yet been proven. Currently, research is underway in various countries, including ours, to develop a drug against a new strain of the virus [Bundibugio]. Clinical trials are still underway for the domestic vaccine, although partners from African countries are already showing interest in it," Alimov said.
The first stages of testing at the Gamaleya Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology confirmed that the vaccine protects against this virus, Denis Logunov, director of the center, told Izvestia. Scientists have already derived the components of the drug and proved on simplified models of the virus that the vaccine forms immunity.
Russia has also developed its own drug against the Zaire strain, GamEvak, which was also created at the Gamaleya Center. Theoretically, it can work against Bundibugio, but there is no evidence of testing yet. From a scientific and medical point of view, it is necessary to check and compare the effectiveness of all existing vaccines, including the Russian one, Andrey Prodeus, chief pediatric allergist and immunologist at the Ministry of Health of the Moscow Region, explained to Izvestia.
— Our vaccine has been produced, is in warehouses, and can be delivered to the consumer within 24 hours. And it is more effective than Ervebo, because it is dual," Alexander Ginzburg, scientific director of the Gamaleya Center, told Izvestia. — We have twice reported to the WHO leadership in Geneva about our drug. The only reason why it is not used is political.
According to him, the Russian drug is approved for use. About 2 thousand Africans received it. Trials of the effectiveness of the Bundibugio vaccine at the current rate of morbidity can be carried out in a month and a half.
At the same time, it is not easy to introduce any vaccine in DR Congo. Some Congolese do not believe in the existence of Ebola, considering it an "invention of the West," which is actively helped by fakes on social networks. Hospitals are in short supply: for example, a doctor from Butembo reported that they had only two body bags left, there was a catastrophic shortage of chlorine, soap, protective suits, masks and gloves, and there was no clean water at all in the refugee camps.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
