Monkey pox in France: 200 personalities call for a commission of inquiry
The signatories denounce in particular a vaccination campaign against monkeypox that is too slow.
AP - Alain Jocard
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
While France lists nearly 2,000 cases of monkeypox, a column published on the HuffPost and signed by 200 people calls for the creation of a senatorial commission of inquiry into government action in the fight against the disease.
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“
We call for a commission of inquiry in the Senate on Monkeypox
”.
The column,
published on the Huffington Post website
, is signed by political figures, association representatives and citizens.
For them, "
the action of the government (...) is totally insufficient given the scale of the situation
".
The signatories denounce the slowness and the under-dimensioning of the vaccination campaign, as well as “
the absence of transparent information
” on the number of vaccines available or the orders to come.
Among the authors of the platform are the deputies Sandrine Rousseau and Danielle Simonnet (Nupes), the first deputy mayor of Marseille Michèle Rubirola (EELV), the presidents of the associations AIDES, Act-Up Paris and Médecin du Monde.
They ask senators to set up a commission of inquiry, as was the case in 2020 on the management of the Covid-19 health crisis.
“
Vaccination has been very slow to be set up, the vaccines are in insufficient quantity, the available slots are not numerous enough to meet the demand of people who are worried or who have been exposed
, lists Antoine Chassagnoux, president of Act -Up Paris, at the microphone of RFI.
There is also the question of the stigmatization of those exposed.
We are asking for a change in discourse so that it is more understandable and less stigmatizing, because we know that stigmatization leads to a refusal to receive treatment.
»
More than 4,000 doses destocked
According to the latest report from Public Health France, published on Friday, 1,955 confirmed cases have been identified in France since May 20, the date on which a first case was detected on national territory.
Faced with this surge in cases, more than 42,000 doses of smallpox vaccine were destocked and vaccination was extended to those most at risk: men who have sex with one or more men, trans people with multiple sexual partners, sex workers and professionals working in places of sexual consumption.
►
To read also: France: vaccination against monkeypox is increasing, but too slowly
Faced with criticism, the Minister of Health François Braun had assured at the end of July that France had "
not fallen behind
" in its vaccination campaign, and affirmed that the stock of smallpox vaccines was "
very substantial
".
However, he refused to specify the extent, pleading the "
secret defense
" because smallpox can be used as a biological weapon.
Monday, after a meeting with the association AIDES, the minister promised on Twitter that the mobilization continued to increase throughout the territory.
The Minister of Health wants proof of this in the 136 vaccination centers opened in France which, according to his figures, have already made it possible to vaccinate more than 14,000 people.
François Braun also announced the forthcoming opening of a “
large capacity
” center in Marseille, on the model of the one opened last week in Paris.
"
To reduce the time for access to vaccines, especially in areas where demand is high such as in Paca and Ile-de-France
", he also said he was working on "
an experiment with pharmacists
".
(
And with
AFP)
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