FERDI has paid particular attention to ways of combating the pandemic and mitigating its effects. Our research has delved into various aspects, including the impact on mortality, the efficiency of healthcare structures, household perceptions of the pandemic, attitudes towards vaccination, strategies to improve vaccine accessibility in developing countries (especially in Africa), and China's role in supporting healthcare initiatives in Africa.
In total, more than 70 research papers, interviews, editorials, or webinars on the economic impacts of the Coronavirus on developing countries have been published in open access on the FERDI website.
A programme in partnership with AFD and in collaboration with FERDI's Sahel Chair was launched to study the impact of Covid on mortality in Africa and on the efficiency of healthcare structures in Burkina Faso and Niger.
In a document entitled "Mortality due to Covid-19 in Africa: the predominance of indirect effects" and several articles, Jean-Louis Arcand, Sosso Feindouno, Michel Garenne and Patrick Guillaumont provide a critical review of data sources relating to mortality in Africa, present an overview of the spread of the epidemic on the continent and the factors that could explain differences in trajectories, and estimate the elasticity of mortality (general and infant/child) in relation to recessions in developing countries and in Africa, in order to deduce the likely impact of recessions on mortality.
In 2022, FERDI continued its work on intellectual property issues relating to vaccines and treatments in the context of health crises. Its researchers argued that the international community should exploit the potential offered by the Medicines Patent Pool to give vulnerable countries access to the latest technological developments in the healthcare field. This work resulted in the publication of the article "Mieux qu'un compromis, une troisième voie: le panier de brevets pour accélérer l'accès aux vaccins et traitements contre la Covid-19" [Better than a compromise, a third way: the patent pool to accelerate access to vaccines and treatments against Covid-19] in the Revue d'économie du développement.
