As the medical experts try to find a cure to the pandemic, DR Congo will take part in trials of vaccines against the disease.
This decision comes after former footballers, Samuel Eto’o, Demba Ba and Didier Drogba blasted medical experts who suggested that Africa should be the testing ground for vaccines against the coronavirus.
The virus originated from China and has over one million cases with almost 60,000 deaths. Italy and Spain are the countries with the highest casualties with over 25,000 deaths.
There is no cure for the virus yet, but medical experts have developed various vaccines that are set to be trialled.
But despite having just a few cases compared to other continents, Africa has been suggested as the testing ground for the vaccines.
However, it did not sit well with some African footballers with Eto’o, Demba Ba and Drogba leading the protest. They all took to their social media pages to express their disgust at the suggestion.
“Africa is not your playing ground,” Eto said on his Instagram page.
His comments were also echoed by Drogba and Demba Ba who both urged Africans to reject the idea.
But despite their outrage, the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed to take part in trials of the vaccines against the disease.
This was confirmed by Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who is the head of DRC’s agency leading the pandemic response.
The trial is set to begin in July, he confirmed.
This post was last modified on April 4, 2020 1:34 pm