United Nations, Shawwal 17, 1435, August 13, 2014, SPA -- A World Health Organization (WHO) panel of medical ethics experts ruled Tuesday that it is ethical to offer unproven drugs or vaccines to people infected or at risk in West Africa’s deadly Ebola outbreak. The panel met to discuss whether various experimental drugs and vaccines being developed for Ebola might be used in the latest outbreak, despite not having been fully tested or licensed. “In the particular circumstances of this outbreak, … 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,” the panel said in a statement released by the U.N. health agency. “Ebola outbreaks can be contained using available interventions like early detection and isolation, contact tracing and monitoring, and adherence to rigorous procedures of infection control,” the panel said. “However, a specific treatment or vaccine would be a potent asset to counter the virus.” --SPA 12:03 LOCAL TIME 09:03 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w