2014-08-13 14:29:00

Hospitallers to regroup, return to Liberia after priest dies of Ebola


(Vatican Radio) The Hospitaller Order of St. John of God says it will regroup and send another team of missionaries to Liberia to sterilize the Hospital of St. John of Monrovia and care for the sick in the city.

The hospital, which is a mission of the Hospitallers of St. John, has been closed, after three members of the Order died in the past two weeks from the deadly Ebola virus, which they contracted from infected patients.

The most recent victim was 75-year-old missionary Fr. Miguel Pajares, who was airlifted to his native Spain last week after being infected with the disease. He died in Madrid on Tuesday, after an unsuccessful treatment with the experimental drug ZMapp.

Listen to the report by Laura Ieraci

And on Saturday, a Congolese nun, Sr. Chantal Pascaline, a nurse at the hospital also died of Ebola. She was a member of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. Two other sisters are now in treatment for the virus.

Brother Pascal Ahodegnon, a general counsellor for the Order, based at the Fatebenefratelli Hospital in Rome, said these deaths have been a huge blow for the community.  With the death of the three missionaries the presence of the entire community in Monrovia has been wiped out, he said.

APPROVAL OF UNTESTED DRUGS

In a desperate attempt to stem the epidemic, which has now killed more than 1,000 people in West Africa, the World Health Organization on Tuesday declared it ethical to use untested drugs and vaccines.

Canada responded quickly, announcing that it will immediately donate up to 1,000 of its 1,500 doses of an experimental vaccine.

The Canadian government says the vaccine, developed by scientists at the agency's National Microbiology Laboratory, has never been tested in humans but has shown promise in animals.

To date, there is no proven treatment or vaccine for Ebola, which Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General at the World Health Organization, says represents a “market failure” in the field of research and development.

 “The fact that there is currently no registered drug for Ebola is a market failure. A market failure because this is typically a disease of poor people in poor countries where there is no market,” she said. “One of the panelists pointed out that this is an opportunity to right a wrong of history.”

“There are some potential therapies and vaccines which look promising, but which have not yet been tested or if they have not thoroughly in clinical trials. Some of these have already been used, others are currently considered for compassionate use.

“Because we know so little about safety and efficacy in humans, whenever these treatments are provided for what we call 'compassionate use', then there is a moral obligation to collect and share all data generated,” she said.

SERVICE TO THE POOR, DESPITE HEALTH RISKS

Back in Rome, Brother Pascal says the epidemic is out of control but this will not dissuade his community from resuming its mission to care for the sick in Liberia.

Brother Pascal says his Order’s mission in Monrovia has existed for 50 years and they will not give it up, despite the gravity of the situation.

“We have given our lives to the sick and we will continue to do so,” he said. “It is our mission to do so, even at the peril of our own lives."

Aware of the risks they run by returning to Monrovia, Brother Pascal insisted his Order’s mission is to be close to the poor and to the sick.

 








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