Paris (AFP)
The former head of Public Health France, François Bourdillon on Wednesday regretted the "belief" of many health officials in the "ineffectiveness of masks" for the general public, contrary to the risk reduction approach advocated by the health agency .
"I think that there were a whole series of people in the decision-making process who did not really believe in the usefulness of masks in the general population," he told the commission of inquiry of the National Assembly on the Management of the Coronavirus Crisis.
This would explain why only 100 million surgical masks were ordered in the summer of 2019 to replenish the strategic state stock, which had dropped from more than 700 million to one hundred million after the destruction of stocks in poor condition.
A report by the infectiologist Jean-Paul Stahl given to Public Health France in August 2018 however recommended to provide 1 billion masks: a box of 50 masks per household including a sick person, or 20 million households in case of attack of 30% of the population.
François Bourdillon, Director General of Public Health France since its creation in April 2016 and until June 2019, explains having transmitted, in September 2018, this recommendation to the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon, stressing that the state of stocks "does not" does not allow protection "of the country in the event of an epidemic.
The latter then instructed him to order 100 million masks, which was done after launching a call for tenders in July 2019: 32 million were delivered in 2019, the rest having arrived in February 2020, when the Covid-19 epidemic was already affecting France.
The public health specialist also explained that he had asked the ministerial official for a "clear doctrine" on the destination of these masks.
While officially since 2013, hospitals and clinics themselves had to determine the advisability of stockpiling masks to protect their staff, it was not clear whether the strategic stocks managed by Santé publique France should cover the needs of the general public or also those of caregivers, he said.
"No orders, no masks and no instructions ... We have the feeling of a little bit of a weekly management", summarized the deputy LR Damien Abad.
Then interviewed, Geneviève Chêne, who took over the general management of Public Health France in November 2019, underlined that when the ministry asked her to order 1.1 million FFP2 masks, on February 7, "there are at this time there less than 10 cases which are confirmed in France, we are still in a very early phase of the epidemic in France ".
It also justified the adoption in early March of a surveillance system "adapted from that used for influenza", where "we no longer necessarily count all the cases one by one" and where "it is no longer necessary to diagnose all people. "
The two leaders also defended the relevance of the creation of the Public Health France agency in 2016, resulting from the merger of three organizations, including the Establishment of preparation and response to health emergencies (Eprus), and its state of preparation to manage the crisis.
François Bourdillon, however, recognized that the budgetary effort made during cyclone Irma in 2017 had "perhaps impacted what was planned" for the purchase of masks and antiviral drugs. The 20% staff cut in a few years may also have affected the agency's efficiency, he added.
© 2020 AFP