Covid-19: Questions of Racism Spark off As French Doctors Suggest Testing The BCG Vaccine in Africa
With the number of affected individuals on the rise globally, every minute brings along its own cascade of uncertainty for the world. In Africa, the reverse is the case as in spite of the predominance of poor infrastructures and medical facilities in most African countries,the government have been able to contain the outbreak of the virus by enforcing measures such as social distancing, self-isolation and lockdown procedures that have been adhered to strictly.
It is with this knowledge that Africans react to the Racist statements given by Jean-Paul Mira, head of intensive care at Cochin hospital in Paris, and Camille Locht, Head of Research at the Inserm health research group. The comment was made on Wednesday In the television broadcast made on the LCI, French television channel, during a discussion about the Covid-19 BCG tuberculosis vaccine that could be used to treat the virus.
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Prior to his altered statement, Dr. Jean-paul Mira in the television debate with his partner Locht had made clear that he might sound provocative; His own words were an instigating prophecy of doom as he not only provoked millions of Africans across the globe, but also pulled out a panic button as well as a question mark on the efficiency of the African health system in this global pandemic.
In his statement to his colleague, the French doctor had declared that a trial session for the BCG vaccine might be considered in Europe and Australia. In his words:
“shouldn’t we be doing this study in Africa, where there are no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation?
A bit like as it is done elsewhere for some studies on AIDS,” the doctor added.
In prostitutes, we try things because we know that they are highly exposed and that they do not protect themselves.”
Dr Mira had earlier suggested that the study might not work as planned on health care workers in Europe and Australia, because they have access to personal protective equipment, guarding them from the contagion.
Dr Camille Lotch, head of Research at the Inserm Health research group, who was also present in the discussion had also suggested that the coronavirus Vaccine be tested on Africans. He had responded;
“You are right,We are in the process of thinking about a study in parallel in Africa,” he said, referencing the studies underway in other continents.
Dr Mira had been concerned that the effect of this test might not be fully productive as health workers in the advanced world had better protective gears and equipment as opposed to Africans.
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Inspite of the seemingly positive concern shown by the French doctors towards the improvement of Covid healthcare systems in Africa, the popular hashtag trends on major social media platforms is reflective of the thoughts of Africans to this new experimentation.
With hashtags as; #AfricansAreNotLabRats, #SayNoToDisguisedRacism, #AfricaCanManageJustFine,#MurderersDisguised, and so much more, most Africans have taken to their social media platforms to express their grand displeasure at the attempts of the French to exploit the people through medical healthcare. Where poorly approved drug substances will be used on unsuspecting Africans under the disguise of the Covid-19 Vaccine .
Following the enraged engagements at his comment on the coronavirus debate, on Friday the 3rd of April, 2020. Dr Mira had apologised for his comments, saying in a statement released by his employer: “I want to present all my apologies to those who were hurt, shocked and felt insulted by the remarks that I clumsily expressed on LCI this week.”
In Spite of this, it is our hope that the government will be on the lookout, and accept only implementations that would serve the good of both suspecting and unsuspecting Africans alike.
What is the BCG Vaccine?
The Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine is primarily used against Tuberculosis and leprosy. In areas where tuberculosis is common, it is especially administered to young children. one dose is recommended in healthy babies immediately after childbirth. Adults who have the disease of tuberculosis are also given the vaccine to be treated appropriately.
According to Wikipedia,The BCG vaccine was first used medically in 1921. It is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system.As of 2004 the vaccine is given to about 100 million children per year globally.
Can The BCG Cure The CoronaVirus?
The bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is such that has existed for over 80 years, and still one of the highest vaccines in demand globally. However, despite its miraculous effect on TB since its development a hundred years ago, it does not have any proven effect on latent pulmonary infection, and there is little evidence yet that the vaccine will minimize the effect of the coronavirus on affected individuals. But a series of clinical trials may answer the question in a few months according to the New York post.
On Monday, 1,000 health workers have signed up to begin testing for clinical trials with the vaccine to help protect themselves and fellow health workers from Viral and parasitic infections.
Dr Nigel Curtis of the Royal Children Hospital in a report affirms that,
“What we want to do is reduce the time an infected health care worker is unwell, so they recover and can come back to work faster”
As it stands, the clinical trials can only yield preliminary results after a few months of continued testing, and research.
After all said, the statistics of infected individuals globally is on the increase with approximately 1.1million cases recorded worldwide as opposed to the 600,000 recorded cases at late March. Africa is by far the least affected continent across the world with a record of 7,064 confirmed cases, and a record of 290 confirmed deaths.
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