Drug Industry Greed Responsible for Nearly 5,000 Ebola Deaths, WHO Says

The greed of the pharmaceutical industry has once again been identified as the source for a major roadblock, this time dealing with the lack of a cure for the Ebola virus.

The World Health Organization said that the drug industry's drive for profit is the reason why a cure for Ebola was not readily available when the outbreak occurred, the New York Times reported.

To date, the virus has killed just shy of 5,000 people and at least 13,567 cases have been reported -- a majority of them in the three West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Dr. Margaret Chan, the director general of the WHO, also criticized the absence of effective public health systems in those countries.

The WHO has long warned of the greed of the industry and the dangers of neglect in public health.

"(These) two W.H.O. arguments that have fallen on deaf ears for decades are now out there with consequences that all the world can see, every day, on prime-time TV news," Chan said, according to the NYT. "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."

The issue was first brought up when the outbreak was reported and the experimental drug ZMapp, from a California-based firm, became known.

Questions about why the drug, and others like it, were still in experimental stages if the science was available circled around the globe as West Africans fought to control the spread of the disease.

Social media posts reflected cries for help from the pharmaceutical world, pleading for the widespread availability of drugs like ZMapp.

ZMapp was said to have mixed results on the health workers it was used on in the West African countries. A priest in Spain died after being administered the drug, but some others, including an American health worker, recovered from the virus.

The WHO hopes to begin trials of vaccines as early as December, with results of their effectiveness to be known by April -- nearly a full year after the spread of the virus.