As the world is looking for coronavirus vaccine, two French doctors suggested a controversial idea.
Dr Camille Locht and Dr Jean-Paul Mira discussed on a live TV debate whether they should try the effectiveness of a vaccine against coronavirus away from their homeland.
"Shouldn't we be doing this study in Africa, where there are no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation?" asked Dr Mira, "A bit like as it was done elsewhere for some studies on AIDS." Dr Locht had a surprising answer, as he agreed with Dr Mira. "We are in the process of thinking about a parallel study in Africa," he responded.
This idea was immediately criticized around the world. People were shocked by the suggestion to make Africa as a European playground. Some of the greatest African players expressed their opinions against the French doctors.
Didier Drogba has a long history of charity activity for Africa. In 2014 he was part of FIFA's campaign against Ebola. "It is totally inconceivable we keep on cautioning this. Africa isn't a testing lab," he tweeted yesterday. "Do not take African people as human guinea pigs! It's absolutely disgusting. African leaders have a responsibility to protect their populations from those horrendous conspiracies."
There were even tougher responses. Demba Ba tweeted, "Welcome to the West, where white people think themselves so superior that racism and stupidity have become commonplace." Samuel Eto'o has cursed the doctors, in a tweet that got massive support from fans and followers.
We are living in times that everyone wishes to be united in their fight against coronavirus. The pandemic hurts people without regards of color, religion, or nationality. Such controversial ideas shouldn't be part of our life.