Declaring an epidemic is a major political and social issue capable of raising the crucial questions that could challenge the authorities’ legitimacy: have they correctly assessed the severity of the situation? On what basis have they declared an epidemic? Are they communicating in a timely manner? The experience that Médecins Sans Frontières has built up over the decades fighting epidemics seems to show that tackling the political and media crises that can accompany a health disaster means that an attempt must be made to answer these questions or, at least, not sidestep them.

This article is an addition to Issue 25 of Humanitarian Alternatives "Food crisis: what role for humanitarian actors?", published in March 2024.

In this paper, the two authors examine certain aspects of the French response to the epidemic in the light of the experience of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in that field, primarily with respect to the relationship between the actors of the response and the beneficiaries.

Crisis situation, response strategies, hydroxychloroquine, interventional epidemiology and the state of scientific research in Africa: Elba Rahmouni interviews Emmanuel Baron, Director of Epicentre, Médecins Sans Frontières

Crisis situation, response strategies, hydroxychloroquine, interventional epidemiology and the state of scientific research in Africa: Elba Rahmouni interviews Emmanuel Baron, Director of Epicentre, Médecins Sans Frontières

The social rejection of the polio eradication campaign in endemic countries challenges an assumption underlying the goal itself: the full compliance of an entire population to a public health programme.