Coronavirus: France racism row over doctors' Africa testing comments

Two French doctors have been accused of racism after a TV debate in which one suggested trials in Africa to see if a tuberculosis vaccine would prove effective against coronavirus.

During the debate on TV channel LCI, Camille Locht, head of research at the Inserm health research group, was talking about a trial in Europe and Australia.

Jean-Paul Mira, head of intensive care at Cochin hospital in Paris, then says: “If I can be provocative, shouldn't we be doing this study in Africa, where there are no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation?”

“A bit like as it is done elsewhere for some studies on Aids. In prostitutes, we try things because we know that they are highly exposed and that they do not protect themselves.”

Dr Mira had earlier questioned whether the study would work as planned on healthcare workers in Europe and Australia because they had access to personal protective equipment to prevent them catching the virus.