The French virologist and infectious disease specialist, born in Dakar, Didier Raoult, has been at the center of world news since the start of the pandemic. This free electron of the scientific community has held up the banner of Africa for years, which has earned him a lot of criticism.
The ugly duckling of scientific research on infectious diseases, Didier Raoult, is a very popular but also very controversial figure. The prolific researcher is unloved in France, especially in high political circles. Discredited in France, because of numerous scientific studies which have called into question his theories concerning Covid-19, without scientists being certain of the ineffectiveness of chloroquine. Nevertheless, Raoult retains all his prestige in the eyes of the African populations and of its leaders, for his brilliance but also for his socio-political positions.
In Senegal, a son of the country
At the beginning of April, during a working visit to Senegal, Didier Raoult was decorated by President Macky Sall. He was awarded a rare and prestigious distinction, the National Order of the Lion of Senegal.
In the country of Téranga, the government partly followed Raoult's recommendations. Currently, the country has an estimated recovery rate of critical cases of Covid-19 at 97%. Senegal is one of the first countries in the world to have reopened its airspace and one of the first in Africa to have started its vaccination campaign. All in all, Senegal is in the 4% of the countries that have best managed the health crisis.
According to a study by Foreign Policy, Senegal is the African country that has weathered the crisis the best in several respects. In terms of border control, financial support for citizens, transparency of communication and testing policy, Dakar is placed ahead of the majority of Western capitals in the ranking.
In terms of the care protocol for vulnerable cases and the proactivity of health measures, Senegal is even ahead of France, Spain, Italy, the United States, etc. It would therefore seem that the treatment with chloroquine, recommended by Raoult, has contributed to the boom in the fight against the coronavirus in Senegal. It is for this reason, and others inherent in his pro-Africa positions, that he was decorated by Senegalese President Macky Sall.
I had the honor of being made Commander of the National Order of the Lion of Senegal by the President of the Republic, Macky Sall.
It is a great pride for me. pic.twitter.com/tJwcWCX3za- Didier Raoult (@raoult_didier) March 31, 2021
The biggest detractor of Didier Raoult
In his country of residence, Didier Raoult is often criticized. Politicians and certain "specialists" do not hesitate to slander this winner of the Inserm grand prize and principal researcher of the MI institute. The last two French health ministers, Agnès Buzyn and Olivier Véran, have exhausted Raoult on several occasions.
But if so many people get angry with Raoult, treating him as a charlatan, while some have never practiced medicine and are not virologists, it is because they had had the validation of a certain Jérôme Salomon. Salomon was the spokesperson for the French Ministry of Health from the start of the pandemic, in his capacity as director general of health for the ministry.
However, it is useful to recall that the same Jérôme Salomon had been made redundant from the Institut Pasteur in 2013, where he was Chief Executive Officer. His exclusion was based on slanderous charges of sexual harassment, corruption, death threats, pedophilia, bestiality and sadomasochism, brought against an unknown colleague. It cannot be invented.
Salomon has since been recruited by the previous government minister Macron. Since the advent of Covid-19, the self-proclaimed spokesperson has made criticism of Dider Raoult his daily bread. If Didier Raoult does not hesitate to display his contempt for French journalists and a good part of his scientific colleagues, it is therefore not without reason.
Taking a stand for just causes
At first glance, Didier Raoult made the headlines in view of his position which minimized the dangers of the pandemic. And for what it's worth, according to statistics from the World Health Organization, Covid-19 is not on the list of the 10 most lethal diseases in the world, it is the 16e more contagious disease and the coronaviridae added together are the 13e planetary cause of death from disease in 2020.
It is therefore difficult to imagine Raoult, an eminent professor, being lynched for his realistic analysis of Covid-19. However, he was mainly criticized for his scientific and political positions. For years, he defended the freedom to wear the veil in France and questioned alarmist theories about global warming. Raoult also criticized the restrictions on the granting of visas for African students and researchers. He has often said that foreigners form a majority of doctoral students, researchers and doctors in France. As recently as April 20, Didier Raoult declared: "The best, the most intelligent, the most dynamic, are the blacks and the Arabs".
Another stance that earned him grievances from the West was his criticism of probiotics. According to Raoult, yogurt and probiotic milk drinks cause obesity. There followed an attack on the major dairy products chains. Raoult was able to prove a weight gain of 15 to 30% in animals fed probiotics. This discovery prompted the giant Danone in particular to make advertising withdrawals. But because of this revelation, Raoult was also banned from publishing in the journals of the American Society of Microbiology.