President Emmanuel Macron met on Thursday April 9 with Professor Didier Raoult, champion of the very controversial use of a chloroquine derivative against the coronavirus. In a few days, the head of state will deliver a long-awaited speech during which he will detail the continuation of confinement in the face of the pandemic, which has killed more than 12,000 people in France.

After meeting other researchers in the morning at a university hospital near Paris to take stock of research into treatments, Emmanuel Macron was welcomed in the afternoon to the Institut hospitalo-universitaire (IHU) in Marseille , where Pr Raoult works.

Become one of the figures of this crisis, Didier Raoult published two studies on the hydroxychloroquine (derivative of chloroquine, a drug against malaria) which prove, according to him, "effectiveness" of this treatment against the coronavirus. However, many scientists find it impossible to draw this conclusion solely on the basis of these studies, in particular because of the way in which they are developed.

A position on chloroquine expected

In front of the gates of the establishment, the police were deployed for this visit which had not been announced, while some Marseillais arrived in drops to be tested for the virus, noted an AFP journalist.

Emmanuel Macron has so far not taken a position on the controversy around chloroquine, which also agitates opinion and the political class. But, like the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, he has already met with Professor Raoult since the start of the crisis.

This move is part of a series of consultations, which the president is leading, in order to prepare the televised speech scheduled for Monday evening, in particular with a view to confirming the extension of the confinement.

Macron listens to researchers

The Élysée Palace explained on Wednesday that the president was going, before this meeting with the French, "to consult a large number of public and private actors, French, European and international, in order to exchange with them on the major issues relating to Covid-19 and to prepare the decisions to be announced to the French on Monday. "

For expert Frédéric Dabi, the meeting with Professor Raoult is "a strong act" which shows that Emmanuel Macron "consults everyone" and not just the members of the Scientific Council or CARE.

It is both "a way of controlling the words of Didier Raoult, because he will not be able to say that he was not listened to", but also "a formidable legitimization of this researcher", however controversial, specifies for AFP the deputy director general of the Ifop polling institute.

Faced with pressure, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran called last weekend not to skip the steps, stressing that we would soon know the first intermediate results of clinical studies, which aim to determine whether chloroquine but also "other promising drugs" are effective when taken at the onset of the disease.

Compared to other molecules, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have the advantage of being already available, inexpensive and well known.

With AFP

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