During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous African politicians characterized vaccine development as neocolonial dependence. Some pointed to the World Health Organization's warnings about Madagascar's ‘COVID Organics' treatment as evidence of ‘epistemic injustice,' describing a western effort to suppress indigenous knowledge.

In a new research article in Politikon, the South African Journal of Political Studies, SIS Professor Carl LeVan shows how African scientists contributed to global knowledge about the pandemic by defending public health from medical populism’s critique of science. Next, he explores how the COVID Organics controversy obscures evidence of African adaptation, institutional innovation and knowledge coordination. As populist politicians adopted nationalist narratives, they marginalized the actual contributions of African scientists.

Despite weak health system capacity and other adverse factors, Africa avoided the worst due to innovation and resourcefulness. This pandemic response complemented a regional and sub-regional infrastructure of expanding economic and political of cooperation. The conclusion highlights how climate change, disinformation and other challenges will require similar evidence-based approaches that insulate science from politics.

Read the full article here.