Buddhist Medical Staff's "Vaccine Experiment in Africa" Remark... WHO Strongly Condemns as Colonial Era Mindset

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly criticized French medical experts on the 6th (local time) for making racist remarks suggesting that Africa be used as a testing ground for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine.

According to BBC and other outlets, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing held at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in response to related questions, "Africa cannot be a testing ground for any vaccine."

Director-General Ghebreyesus, unable to hide his anger, called it a "colonial-era mindset" and said, "It is shameful and chilling to hear such words from scientists in the 21st century. We condemn this with the strongest possible language and assure you that this will not happen."

The problematic remarks came during a recent discussion on the French LCI broadcast, where local medical experts were talking about vaccine trials in Europe and Australia. Jean-Paul Mira, head of the intensive care unit at Cochin Hospital in Paris, said, "It may be provocative, but could we conduct this research in Africa, where there are no masks, separate treatments, or resuscitation?" He added, "A similar type of AIDS research is being conducted somewhere on sex workers because we know they are seriously exposed to the disease and do not protect themselves."

In response, Camille Locht, director of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, nodded and said, "That's right. We are considering conducting research simultaneously in Africa (with AIDS research)."

As these remarks aired on TV, fierce criticism erupted. Didier Drogba, a former football player from C?te d'Ivoire, said, "Do not treat Africans as human guinea pigs. It's disgusting," and Samuel Eto'o, a former football player from Cameroon, called them "murderers." On social networking services (SNS), videos appeared showing angry protesters destroying a COVID-19 center under construction in Abidjan, C?te d'Ivoire, smashing it by hand and throwing construction materials onto the ground.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that as of that day, COVID-19 had occurred in 51 out of 54 African countries, with 9,178 confirmed cases and 414 deaths reported.