The refusal of the anti-Covid-19 vaccine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo can of course be explained in several ways. To fully understand, it is necessary to know that the giant of Central Africa is in a rather particular situation since the country must simultaneously face two epidemics: Covid-19 and Ebola which, according to the Minister of Public Health, has resurfaced in an eastern region after the death of a 42-year-old woman. The vaccination against Ebola is already known to the Congolese, but it never really convinced them. Some people still delay or refuse vaccinations for themselves or for their children against the Ebola virus, because they feel they do not have confidence because there is not enough hindsight on his experimentation. So the arrival of an additional vaccine like that against the coronavirus is not reassuring at all. Many messages evoking conspiracy theories are regularly shared on social networks. Among those that persist the most is the widespread idea that they are “sterilants” produced by pharmaceutical laboratories whose objective, according to them, would be to slow down the Congolese demography.
Conspiracy theories and mistrust of vaccination
This far from new thesis is resurfacing in Kinshasa, the capital where it is increasingly shared. Marie-Jeanne, 22, a student at the University of Kinshasa, shows her fed up with the announcement of vaccination by the country’s authorities who want to reduce Covid-19 contamination. “This announcement does not surprise us, knowing the influence of the lobbies of the great powers and their pharmaceutical industries on our leaders, she judges. We will not accept this vaccine which is neither more nor less a sterilant. “” Acquaintances in Europe and the United States alert us every day and urge us to be cautious in order to reserve a categorical refusal if such an undertaking were carried out “, she warned bluntly.
Alain Kanzenze, 41 years old and trader in Gambela market, one of the busiest places in Kinshasa, to drive home the point: “These developed countries have tried in the past in vain to convince us to limit births and today they are changing. formulas hiding behind these vaccines. It is a shame to have authorities who do not protect us and are ready to use us as guinea pigs for petty purposes. ”
Eric and Marie-Claire, a young couple coming out of a prenatal consultation in a health center in Kinshasa, criticize “the eternal tendency of Congolese rulers to subscribe to any initiative or global treaty, provided they do so. benefit ”. “It is surely that they will receive these vaccines free of charge from international partners, in this case the WHO, but at the end of the day, to resell them to the little bruised people, via partner hospitals. Anyway, me and my wife we will not be candidates no matter whether it is free or paid, we need the offspring, “he lambasted.
Illustration: Earlier this week, a rumor of schoolchildren being vaccinated against Covid-19 prompted parents to pick up their children from schools in two cities in the DRC, creating a climate of panic, the French Press Agency reported . “A crazy rumor that has spread this morning, like wildfire (…), reports the start of a vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in some schools” in Bukavu, in the province of South Kivu (Is). “Informed, the parents of students rushed, in an atmosphere of safe-manners, to schools to pick up their children,” wrote the communication service of the governor of South Kivu. “The provincial governor, Théo Ngwabidje Kasi, wishes to formally deny this false information which has created panic within the population. He specifies that no vaccine has arrived in South Kivu, even less in Bukavu, ”according to the press release. The same panic was recorded in a few schools in Lubumbashi, the country’s second city, in the South-East, where the same rumor as in Bukavu was conveyed through social networks.
The essential support of communities
The Minister of Public Health, Eteni Longondo announced on public television that the government will soon launch awareness and explanation campaigns among the populations to promote the vaccine against the coronavirus. “The Covid-19 vaccine is an inevitable path now, even if it is not compulsory for the population, it is a necessary path which can save lives”. “And we think that we will soon introduce the vaccine here, obviously after having done in-depth analyzes” he added, without revealing the name of the chosen vaccine or the date of the start of the effective vaccination.
Dr Jean-Michel Mavungu, specialist in public health, for his part urges all actors to work more upstream with communities to obtain their support for the vaccination program: “The most effective health strategies are those that are done with the full participation of the population and this participation is built before, during and after an intervention. The first cases of coronavirus were diagnosed in the DRC on March 10, 2020. Since then, 25,144 cases have been recorded, for 700 deaths, according to the latest official report. Of the 26 provinces of the country, 23 are affected by the pandemic, the capital Kinshasa being at the top of the contaminations.
The dilemma between vaccination and curative treatment
Beyond this mistrust of vaccination, the Congolese also have their habits with local treatments. Congolese researchers recently presented their discoveries based on traditional products supposed to treat the coronavirus and the results of which were hailed by the President of the Republic Félix Tshisekedi in these terms: “The vaccine is a must. But we also favor curative treatment. We have two products that promise in any case with their first results. These are Congolese products. ”
One of these products is called “Manacovid”, already in pharmacies and sold without a prescription. The World Health Organization has expressed its “extreme caution” against these products. “Clinical trials are essential to provide scientific evidence on the safety, efficacy and quality of all medicines, whether the approach is traditional or modern,” said WHO.
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