WHO pulls up ‘profit-driven’ pharma sector over Ebola crisis

Speaking to the Regional Committee for Africa, Dr Margaret Chan, DG of the World Health Organization (WHO) has criticised pharma, calling it a ‘profit-driven industry’, in relation to the continued struggle to disseminate a vaccine for Ebola.

Dr Chan’s comments regarding the pharmaceutical industry were described as ‘unusually strident’ by Charlie Cooper, health correspondent for The Independent newspaper.

However, the WHO leader insists that the organisation has made repeated calls on pharma for a vaccine over the years, and says they have ‘fallen on deaf ears’.

She added: “The R&D incentive is virtually non-existent. A profit-driven industry does not invest in products for markets that cannot pay. WHO has been trying to make this issue visible for ages. Now people can see for themselves.”