In the heart of an unwanted “controversy”, the National Academy of Medicine speech. In a press release shared in The Press this Thursday, April 3, the reference organization wanted to respond to “reactions excited by the publication of its report” in relation to others in the origins of COVID-19.
The report in question, “of the origin of SARS-COV-2 to the risks of zoonoses and dangerous virus manipulations,” journalists were presented on Wednesday, April 2 during a press conference. One of the central themes was the question of the point of origin of the pandemic.
“Five years after the beginning of the pandemic, the origin of the virus remains an enigma. The hypothesis of the natural origin remains opposite to that of a modified virus that would have escaped from the Wuhan laboratory in China, a laboratory specialized in research on Coronavirus,” said a member of the academy in the preamble.
It was clearly specified that the question of the origin of the virus was not decided, but that the existence of a “package of facts and arguments” could further accredit the thesis of a voluntary or involuntary escape of a laboratory. A point that aroused reactions within the scientific community.
“This report is scientifically indigenous,” said the CNRS researcher, author of a study published in September 2024 aimed at identifying the intermediary that transmitted the SARS-COV-2 to the man.
Florence Féné estimated the report of the Academy of Medicine near the “Comptoir conspirator” and “unworthy of the institution that publishes it.”
“Those who support the accident thesis are not conspiracies. They simply look for the truth, there have been millions of deaths, it is necessary to have answers,” said Biologist Patrick Berche during the press conference, without stopping in one hypothesis or another.
“The Academy does not intend to close a scientific debate even in progress”
After having suffered these criticisms, and having received a support wave of real complication, the Academy of Medicine, therefore, decided to clarify their words in this message.
“The National Academy of Medicine wishes to remember the spirit and methodology that has guided its work and that this report is not intended to close a scientific debate even in progress,” adding: add:
“Most of the report is related to the recommendations related to the epidemiological surveillance of zoonoses and the prevention of the risks of dangerous manipulation of laboratory viruses. The report underlines the importance of awareness of the awareness of the scientific and ethical responsibilities of the researchers in the face of biosecurity problems and questions related to risk research,” as BFMTV indicated on April 2.
In the form, the institution “regrets” to have been criticized within the scientific community for expressing these elements, “instead of a constructive scientific debate.”
Source: BFM TV
