Abstract
Preparing for epidemics. A strategy for strengthening social science skills in Africa The Covid pandemic was a reminder of the need to be prepared for epidemics and pandemics and to take into account their socio-political dimensions by developing socio-anthropological and interdisciplinary approaches. In the post-crisis era, the challenge is one of operationality. How can these dimensions be made more visible? How can we develop analyses that can help to humanize institutional responses, make inequalities visible to limit them during the crisis, reveal structural determinants of transmission, and define interventions that are scientifically sound, ethically just and respectful of diversity? Three strategies are relevant to meet these challenges: (1) more social scientists in French-speaking Africa must get expertise on epidemics to investigate associated issues before, during and after epidemic crisis; (2) public health professionals, health and social workers must get informed about social, historical, economic and political aspects of epidemics that shape risk, care and control; (3) collaborations between researchers and those involved in responding to epidemics on the basis of shared knowledge must develop. This article presents a capacity-building initiative developed in French-speaking West Africa by the Anthropology of Emerging Epidemics Network (RAAE), in conjunction with other networks (Sonar-Global) and institutions (CRCF, IRD). It describes and analyzes a program that combines a working method, a scientific content and teaching tools. This program benefited from previous training experiences and gathered expertise from about 25 social scientists, mainly medical anthropologists, who have worked on various epidemics and pandemics such as AIDS, Ebola, plague, Covid and dengue in West Africa and beyond. The process to develop the course was based on workshops followed by redaction periods, then testings for content and tools during training sessions. The course focuses on two audiences: social science researchers (with a Master degree level and above) and social and health workers (public health, community health, NGOs, social workers). For the former, the course aims at reinforcing theoretical and methodological skills through the presentation of issues, key concepts, selected theoretical developments, themes and bibliographical references. For the latter, the course is based on modules about operational issues that can be taken separately, to better adapt the content of trainings to local teams’ needs. For both, a glossary includes 100 definitions of public health, medical and social science vocabulary, relevant to epidemics. The content in terms of skills to be acquired (knowledge, know-how) is presented briefly in the article. Both the scientific content and learning methods and tools are presented in a manual (Desclaux et al., Anthropologie appliquée aux épidémies émergentes, 2022 [5]) as well as on Sonar-Global (English) and RAEE (French) websites (www.sonar-global.eu, www.raee.fr). The knowledge to be imparted is organized into 13 modules: introduction; the framework for responding to epidemics; emergence and One Health; antimicrobial resistance; infectious risk (inequalities, stigmatization and prevention); knowledge (circulation and interpretation); health services (places of risk and care); public health measures (lockdown and distancing); experiences (suffering of the sick and mobilization); death (meaning and rituals); vaccination (innovation, equity and hesitation); epidemic cycles (preparation, response and recovery); challenges, methods, ethics and governance; and conclusion. The first training courses held in Senegal and Burkina Faso for university researchers and young scholars from Africa and France were positively evaluated by the participants. They report that they have acquired knowledge in epidemic social science, but also in public health, which has given them the necessary basis for communicating and developing collaborations (in research and intervention) with social and health actors. The model could be duplicated with adaptation for new training sessions organized by other institutions, for which a manual is available.