NOTE FROM THE BRAZILIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
SCIENCE FOR THE DEFENSE OF LIFE
At this time of serious health, economic and social crisis, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences affirms the importance of public policies based on scientific evidence, aiming to control the magnitude of the COVID-19 epidemic and reduce the suffering of the population.
The world's first case of COVID-19 was reported in China in late 2019. In less than three months the disease spread across the world and virtually every country is reporting cases of the disease. The numbers today (25/03/2020) are gigantic, affecting young and old people, for a disease that did not exist just three months ago: 441 thousand cases, more than 19 thousand deaths. In Europe, the current focus of the disease, health systems are overloaded. In the United States, cases are increasing exponentially and the health system is already beginning to feel the impacts of the disease. In New York alone, there are more than 15 thousand cases and 192 deaths (25/03/2020), with the number growing rapidly. At this rate, a 10-fold increase in cases is expected every week if no action is taken.
Thanks to science, we know the causative agent and how it probably entered the chain of infection between humans; we know how to accurately diagnose who is infected; We know the forms of contagion and we know strategies that prevent its transmission in the population, which have been successful in South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. We know how to treat it clinically (through ventilatory support), and this has been improving in recent days. We also know of some in vitro experiments, which are promising for some drugs, such as chloroquine. But this drug never proved beneficial in other viruses where there was also promising in vitro data. For this reason, it is necessary to carry out controlled clinical trials, with independent reviews, to demonstrate the real benefit (or not) of the drug and investigate how to eliminate harmful side effects, which can lead to the patient's death. These clinical trials are underway in Brazil and around the world in an attempt to demonstrate the effectiveness of this and other medications.
Social isolation strategies play an extremely important role in facing this crisis. They aim to organize health services to deal with this infection, which, despite being serious, can be well treated by an organized and well-sized health system (as in Germany). The Ministry of Health and the Health Departments of several States of the Federation are acting correctly, following scientific recommendations and successful examples from other countries.
The Brazilian Academy of Sciences follows the current crisis with concern and also with the determination to make scientific evidence count. ABC members are committed, night and day, to fighting this epidemic.
It is important that government authorities demonstrate their adherence to the precepts and precautions recommended by science and the health system, for the good of the Brazilian population. This is a moment of solidarity and responsibility. In defense of Life.
Rio de Janeiro, March 25, 2020
Luiz Davidovich
President of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences
