--- title: WHO Endorses Use of Experimental Ebola Drug description: The World Health Organization approved the use of experimental drugs on Ebola patients as the death toll from the outbreak surpassed 1,000 canonical: https://time.com/3103223/world-health-organization-ebola-africa/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-12T12:20:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:36:50.677Z article:section: Health og:title: WHO Endorses Use of Experimental Ebola Drug og:description: The World Health Organization approved the use of experimental drugs on Ebola patients as the death toll from the outbreak surpassed 1,000 og:url: https://time.com/3103223/world-health-organization-ebola-africa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt240b945bfc6fb464/69869f27cd6848f6ab096043/453327800.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SWITZERLAND-HEALTH-EBOLA-WAFRICA-WHO og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WHO Endorses Use of Experimental Ebola Drug twitter:description: The World Health Organization approved the use of experimental drugs on Ebola patients as the death toll from the outbreak surpassed 1,000 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt240b945bfc6fb464/69869f27cd6848f6ab096043/453327800.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # WHO Endorses Use of Experimental Ebola Drugs ## Video: Ebola: The Deadly Virus Outbreak Explained [Watch (HLS stream): Ebola: The Deadly Virus Outbreak Explained](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oB7TO3G5.m3u8) (1:36)  _Published 2014-07-29. A look at the numbers behind the largest ebola outbreak on record, which has killed 670 people thus far._  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Aug 12, 2014 12:20 PM UTC  World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan with assistant director-general for health security Keiji Fukuda on Aug. 8, 2014 in Geneva. World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan with assistant director-general for health security Keiji Fukuda on Aug. 8, 2014 in Geneva.Alain Grosclaude—AFP/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Aug 12, 2014 12:20 PM UTC The World Health Organization [endorsed](http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2014/ebola-ethical-review-summary/en/) the use of untested experimental drugs for Ebola patients on Tuesday, hours after a Spanish priest died of the virus and the outbreak’s death toll in West Africa passed 1,000. An ethics panel ruled that the drugs, which have not yet passed clinical trials but have shown early promise in combating the virus, could provide a “potent asset” in the battle to contain the epidemic, which it called the “most severe and most complex outbreak of Ebola virus disease in history.” “In the particular circumstances of this outbreak, and provided certain conditions are met, the panel reached consensus that it is ethical to offer unproven interventions with as yet unknown efficacy and adverse effects, as potential treatment or prevention,” members of the panel said in a statement. The experimental drug ZMapp has been [administered](http://time.com/3099899/ebola-west-africa-msf-international-assistance/?utm%5Fsource=feedburner&utm%5Fmedium=feed&utm%5Fcampaign=Feed:%20time/topstories%20%28TIME:%20Top%20Stories%29) to two American patients, who are receiving specialized care at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, and had been obtained for a Spanish priest who died in a Madrid hospital on Tuesday, the New York _Times_ [reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/world/africa/ebola.html?%5Fr=0). The death of Father Miguel Pajares, 75, who was evacuated from Liberia last week, marks the first Ebola-related one to occur on European soil in this outbreak. Hospital officials did not say whether Pajares had been treated with the experimental drug, the _Times_ added. WHO officials said the experimental drugs should only be given after the patient has been fully informed of the risks and freely chooses to undergo the treatment. It also declared that sharing results of the treatment was a “moral obligation” for health workers in the field. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3103223/world-health-organization-ebola-africa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3103223/world-health-organization-ebola-africa/"},"headline":"WHO Endorses Use of Experimental Ebola Drugs","datePublished":"2014-08-12T12:20:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:36:50.677Z","description":"Hours after a Spanish priest died of the virus","url":"https://time.com/3103223/world-health-organization-ebola-africa/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","ebola"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt240b945bfc6fb464/69869f27cd6848f6ab096043/453327800.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt240b945bfc6fb464/69869f27cd6848f6ab096043/453327800.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SWITZERLAND-HEALTH-EBOLA-WAFRICA-WHO","caption":"SWITZERLAND-HEALTH-EBOLA-WAFRICA-WHO","creditText":"Alain Grosclaude—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3103223/world-health-organization-ebola-africa/","name":"WHO Endorses Use of Experimental Ebola Drugs"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ebola: The Deadly Virus Outbreak Explained","description":"A look at the numbers behind the largest ebola outbreak on record, which has killed 670 people thus far.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/oB7TO3G5/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-29T20:36:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oB7TO3G5.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3103223/world-health-organization-ebola-africa/","duration":"PT1M36S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3103223/world-health-organization-ebola-africa/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```