Sciences et Avenir: One of your first decisions was to create a scientific committee to consolidate the decisions to be taken to deal with the epidemic in the countries of the south. What do you expect?

Valrie Verdier: We are facing a new situation caused by a virus of which we really know little. We therefore have to resolve medical questions, assess the health situation in each country where we are asked, model the evolution of the pandemic, think about the deployment of measures to combat the coronavirus. This requires mobilizing skills in epidemiology, virology, ecology, anthropology, sociology, scientific fields on which the IRD relies in its daily action. Faced with the coronavirus, we must reinforce this interdisciplinarity and the first mission of the committee will be precisely to work together on a global approach. It is made up of four IRD scientists and four partners from the South in order to reflect in particular on strategies for implementing diagnostics with African researchers. This is a fundamental principle of the Institute: the IRD laboratories are co-constructed and co-managed with our partners.

What are the requests made by your African counterparts?

This concerns the means of screening, understanding the spread of the virus, the implementation of control measures: containment, barrier gestures, etc. Thus the UMR TransVIHMI of Montpellier animates the Coronavirus Africa project (Coraf) intended to respond quickly to the social questions raised by the epidemic and to enlighten the decision-makers by comparing in particular the initiatives in Senegal, Burkina-Faso and Benin. Another project, Corafmob, analyzes social distancing and community mobilizations in Senegal and Burkina-Faso. The IRD also supports patient monitoring and the implementation of diagnostic methods deployed in Cameroon, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The French Development Agency (AFD) has just granted us 2.2 million euros for the implementation of an action research project which supports the African response to the epidemic in Benin, Ghana , in Guinea, Senegal, Cameroon and the DRC, the Ariacov project. With our partners the National Institute of Biomedical Research in the DRC, the National Institute of Public Health in Guinea or the West African Center for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens in Ghana, to name but three we will put set up a set of activities combining training, equipment and consumables to carry out large-scale screening tests and carry out the sero-epidemic surveys necessary to develop modeling. We will also strengthen quantitative data collection systems, coupled with qualitative surveys and monitoring of the media and social networks, to better understand the knowledge that populations have of epidemic risk, so that decision-makers can adapt the messages of prevention if necessary. However, we are still facing a glaring lack of tests. We cannot imagine today testing the only people at risk, nor even the nursing staff.

What do we know about the dynamics of the epidemic in Africa?

Few things unfortunately. There currently seem to be relatively few cases listed. One of my Malian colleagues told me at the end of April that his country was at the very beginning of the epidemic. We must quickly build models for forecasting the evolution of the epidemic adapted to the African continent. Those used in Europe are not necessarily suitable. First, the age pyramid is completely different: in France, almost 30% of the population is over 60, while in Guinea for example, people over 65 represent only 3% of the population. However, it is the elderly who are most at risk from coronavirus, while the young seem to cope better, or are asymptomatic. Furthermore, living conditions can make the spread of the disease different. In Europe, a sick person can infect 3 to 10 other people, in Africa it is potentially much more.

Do the shortcomings of African health systems not cause the worst fear?

We dont start from scratch. There are health infrastructures and our African colleagues have a very good knowledge of the methods to be implemented against epidemics. The fight against Ebola and HIV has made it possible to build strategies to limit the spread of disease and health structures know how to react as best as possible to an epidemic. There is strong experience that local authorities can rely on to limit the spread of Covid-19. What we all want to avoid is that people with the disease have to go to big cities to get tested and treated. It is imperative to relocate the offer of test and care, otherwise the populations risk not being able to be taken care of.

Sciences et Avenir: One of your first decisions was to create a scientific committee to consolidate the decisions to be taken to deal with the epidemic in the countries of the south. What do you expect?

Valrie Verdier: We are facing a new situation caused by a virus of which we really know little. We therefore have to resolve medical questions, assess the health situation in each country where we are contacted, model the evolution of the pandemic, think about the deployment of measures to combat the coronavirus. This requires mobilizing skills in epidemiology, virology, ecology, anthropology, sociology, scientific fields on which the IRD relies in its daily action. Faced with the coronavirus, we must reinforce this interdisciplinarity and the first mission of the committee will be precisely to work together on a global approach. It is made up of four IRD scientists and four partners from the South in order to reflect in particular on strategies for implementing diagnostics with African researchers. This is a fundamental principle of the Institute: the IRD laboratories are co-constructed and co-managed with our partners.

What are the requests made by your African counterparts?

This concerns the means of screening, understanding the spread of the virus, the implementation of control measures: containment, barrier gestures, etc. The Montpellier TransVIHMI research unit leads the Coronavirus Africa project (Coraf), which is intended to respond quickly to the social questions raised by the epidemic and enlighten decision-makers by notably comparing initiatives in Senegal, Burkina-Faso and Benin. Another project, Corafmob, analyzes social distancing and community mobilizations in Senegal and Burkina-Faso. The IRD also supports patient monitoring and the implementation of diagnostic methods deployed in Cameroon, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The French Development Agency (AFD) has just granted us 2.2 million euros for the implementation of an action research project which supports the African response to the epidemic in Benin, Ghana , in Guinea, Senegal, Cameroon and the DRC, the Ariacov project. With our partners the National Institute of Biomedical Research in the DRC, the National Institute of Public Health in Guinea or the West African Center for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens in Ghana, to name but three we will put set up a set of activities combining training, equipment and consumables to carry out large-scale screening tests and carry out the sero-epidemic surveys necessary to develop modeling.

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