The Greek physician, Hippocrates, who lived between 460-370 BC, is accredited with establishing the ethical oath of office taken by medical school graduates. The oath establishes several principles of medical ethics which are still adhered to today. Included in these codes of conduct is the principle of non-maleficence, "primum non nocere" or “first, do no harm.” This Hippocratic Code and Oath remains the primary focus of any physician in the practice of medicine. The well-being of the patient should always be paramount in all the doctor’s considerations and administrations of treatment regardless of socio-economic status, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity.

Given the aforementioned code of conduct for physicians, it was appalling to read that French physicians Dr. Jean-Paul Mira of the Cochin Hospital, and Dr. Camille Locht of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, proposed the use of poor Africans as guinea pigs for a COVID-19 vaccine. Viewing poor Africans or other poor people as expendable is reprehensible.

Therefore, we, members of the African Presbyterian Leadership Alliance in the Presbyterian Church, USA (APLA- PCUSA) unite our voices with those of Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o in denouncing the racist and unconscionable conduct of these doctors.

We demand an apology from Mira and Locht, and further demand censure of the two from the French Medical Association.

As global citizens, let us resist the temptation to slip back to a time when our African American siblings were exploitatively subjected to harmful medical experimentation without their informed consent as in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, in which 600 African American men were enrolled.

Rather than mistreat our fellow human beings, we should seek to embody the principle of "ubuntu," the essence of "being human" that Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu shared with the religious community. We should see each others humanity and be filled with compassion.

We further propose that as global citizens, we equally embrace the ideal of "ulongo" - a Yao (Malawian) concept of relatedness; we are all related to one another. A poignant indication of this notion is found in Mark 12:31, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

In conclusion, we urge all and sundry, as we come together to battle COVID-19 pandemic, to first and foremost always acknowledge each other’s humanity and recognize that we belong to each other.

Therefore, let us all hold firmly to the message of Romans 13:10, “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:10 is a variation of the Hippocratic Oath which all medical practitioners and human beings are called to live by.

In Christ,
FOR APLA
Rev. Dr. Cheni Khonje, Member at Large in West Jersey Presbytery
APLA Advisory Board & Leadership Council: Revs.: Princeton Abaraoha (Staff Liaison), Bobby Musengwa, Martin Osae, Gad Mpoyo, Jane Kagia, Oghene’tega Swann, Moses Biney, Julius Edah, Ekram Kachu; Elders Grace Atanga-Fuh and Ida Jennifer Sika