Suggesting that Africans conduct clinical trials using a "repurposed" drug for tuberculosis to help create a coronavirus vaccine has caused a major uproar.
The two French physicians, one of whom apologized, were blasted by a French anti-racism organization for their insulting remarks.
French Intensive care physician Jean-Paul Mira apologized on Friday for suggesting to test a repurposed tuberculosis vaccine in Africa to contain the rapid spread of the disease, during an expert talk with a TV colleague.
"Africa is not a testing facility," retired Ivory Coast football star Didier Drogba responded, and a group of Moroccan lawyers had said that it would file charges against Mira for racial defamation.
The remarks on the French TV Channel LCI were made during a debate on COVID-19 trials scheduled to be conducted in Europe and Australia to see whether the BCG tuberculosis vaccine could be used to combat the new disease.
'If I were to be provocative, should we not do this testing in Africa, where there are no masks and no medication, as some research on AIDS have done, where things are tested on prostitutes because they are considered to be highly exposed to HIV?" Mira said.
Researchers conducting clinical trials aim to identify conditions in which large numbers of people are exposed to the disease, as this allows them a greater chance of developing a new drug.
These lab studies are performed under strict guidelines, which demands that volunteers be briefed on any risks and give informed consent. Yet the possibility of using Africa as the setting for a vaccine against coronavirus is contentious.
BCG is a vaccine often given to infants in countries where tuberculosis is widespread. Some recent reports have indicated fewer coronavirus-related deaths recorded in countries where BCG is administered.
Africa has been the least affected continent so far by the virus, but reported cases - and deaths - are on the rise in the past few days.
Meanwhile, the French Group SOS Racisme said Africans are not "guinea pigs" and the commission for ethics broadcast by France's CSA said it had received a report.
Paris' clinic association, including Mira as director of intensive care at his Cochin Hospital, quoted him on Friday as saying: "I would like to give all my apologies to all who have been offended by the remarks I have made."
Africa is the poorest continent in the world and its inhabitants have the least obligation to spread the virus, which originated in China and spread by air travel to the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.
