This is the end of the Scientific Council. The organization chaired by Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, who accompanied the French for more than two years to follow the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic, is dissolved from Sunday July 31. He gives way to a “committee for monitoring and anticipating health risks”. The new Scientific Authority was officially created by a decree published in the Official Journal of July 31where the new health law was promulgated, voted at the end of July by Parliament. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about this new committee.
The 19 members will be known “in the coming days”
The committee will be composed of 19 members, whose names will be “communicated in the next few days”, said the cabinet of the Minister of Health François Braun to AFP. If some members of the Cscientific council could be part of the new committee, this will not be the case of Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, who is giving up his apron. He will continue his role as Chairman of the National Ethics Advisory Committee.
The new committee will be chaired by a qualified personality, appointed by the Ministers of Health and Research, and composed, in detail, of “16 scientific personalities or health professionals, a patient representative, a citizen representative”specifies the decree.
“In the event of a health crisis”its chairman may “propose to call on additional personalities for their specific expertise”, advances the text. Committee members will be appointed “for a period of two years, renewable once” by ministerial decree.
Its missions will go beyond monitoring the Covid-19 pandemic alone
The Minister of Health, François Braun, declared on July 27 on franceinfo that the committee would be “a bit like a commando team of very high-level scientists” and that it would be “independent, transparent in its opinions and extremely responsive”.
Unlike its predecessor, this new health monitoring committee will not only focus on monitoring the Covid-19 pandemic, “given the risk of emergence of other viruses”underlined the Minister of Health.
“We will have new tools, but we will be surprised by a new virus which will have other properties”also judged the President of the Scientific Council, Jean-François Delfraissy, in an interview at Parisian (subscribers only). With “specialists in human, animal and environmental health”the committee will allow “a broader approach”he added.
It will make recommendations during health crisis situations
More concretely, this new health monitoring committee will be responsible, like its predecessor, for making recommendations, public, in different situations. First of all, “when a projection reveals a health risk”, specifies the decree. He may also comment on “measures envisaged by the public authorities in order to combat a health crisis”.
In addition, the authority will be able to issue opinions on the vaccination strategy implemented, in health crisis situations that it has identified. Founded with the Ministers of Health and Research, it can be seized by one of them or self-seize.
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