The Covid-19 pandemic has ‘democratised’ science, says Professor Salim Abdool Karim after winning global award

15 Dec 2020

South Africa’s top adviser on Covid-19, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, and his counterpart in the United States, Dr Anthony Fauci, have been jointly awarded a prize for ‘standing up for science’ during the Covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, communicating science was as difficult as it ever was — but at least scientific language and data were democratised in the process, says Abdool Karim.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim and Dr Anthony Fauci were jointly awarded the John Maddox Prize 2020 “for standing up for science during the coronavirus pandemic” on Monday, 14 December 2020.

They were commended for “going beyond the line of duty as government advisers on health” in their communication of the complex and changing science of Covid-19 to the public and policymakers alike.

Abdool Karim is an epidemiologist and director of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa, as well as the chair of South Africa’s Covid-19 ministerial advisory committee. Dr Fauci is the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States.

The prize is presented annually by the charity Sense about Science and the scientific journal, Nature, to one or two people for “standing up for sound science in public”, often in the face of difficulty or hostility.

This year, it received more than 100 nominations from 34 countries.

“We have high expectations of people in public office, so we are recognising a standard above and beyond that. This crisis drew many advisers away into the corridors of decision-making and official announcements. Instead, our joint winners took every opportunity to talk to the public through uncertain and emerging science,” said Tracey Brown, the director of Sense about Science, in announcing the prize winners.

About Abdool Karim, the prize’s judges wrote:

“He has a reputation for clear and honest communication, something that has allowed him to generate public trust in fast-moving science. Respected for his international science advocacy, engaging with the media and the public has become integral to his role as a scientist.”

Abdool Karim said he was “deeply honoured” to receive the prize jointly with Fauci:

“Providing scientific advice on Covid-19 in the midst of uncertainty and anxiety proved to be a difficult task, made more challenging by conspiracy theories. But, I found that the task was made easier by staying true to the available scientific evidence without bending to ideology or vested interests. Serving the nation by promoting science, evidence and public discussion during two pandemics — Aids and Covid-19 — over the last 30 or so years has been a privilege for me.”

Abdool Karim and Fauci are long-standing colleagues and both tackled the HIV/Aids epidemic. Fauci oversaw the American government’s medical response to the epidemic, while Abdool Karim spoke out against Aids denialism and advocated for Aids treatment for all in South Africa.

I think the big problem is to convey the complexity of scientific information, in terms of what do we really know and what do we think we know. Because there’s a big difference.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, they remained in contact. “When I was initially appointed as the chair of the ministerial advisory committee, one of the first emails I sent off was to Dr Fauci. I was just wanting him to establish an open line of communication,” recalls Abdool Karim.

“I said: we don’t really know what’s going on with this virus, any information is helpful and I might be tapping into you. He sent back: of course, anytime. So, we’ve kept in touch over this time. Each of us are dealing with quite different situations in our countries and it just cements quite a long relationship as colleagues and fellow scientists.”

The pandemic has required that scientists tackle the science of Covid-19 and science literacy in the same breath — which is no easy task, says Abdool Karim.

“I think the big problem is to convey the complexity of scientific information, in terms of what do we really know and what do we think we know. Because there’s a big difference,” he says.

He explains that a scientific result in a journal article is “not a fact — it’s just a finding”. He said the challenge is to convey the information with the level of uncertainty that comes with it, “because it’s going to change — science is like that”. All this needs to be said in very few words. Another challenge is commentators “who try to create the impression that everything is black and white”.

“The science is not about facts. Some people think science is like mathematics, that one plus one equals two and there’s no other answer. In our world of Covid-19, there’s almost no equivalent of one plus one equals two,” he says.

“Everything is nuanced. Everything is tentative.”

This challenging undertaking does have a silver lining, he says.

“I think for me, the most impressive thing I have witnessed is just the democratisation of science. It has become accessible to everybody. I have so many people talking to me in the language of epidemiology. I mean, they talk to me about case fatality rates and flattening the curve. They talk in language that would previously be the language we would use at a conference of infectious diseases or epidemiology.

“So, I have found that to be the most empowering. People have access to the data. It’s just amazing to me that you have a situation where every day the minister [of health] releases a press statement with all of the numbers [of Covid-19 infections]. That is unheard of in any other epidemic, even if you go back to listeriosis or HIV. We’ve never had that situation and now you can go to Our World In Data or the Johns Hopkins website and you know about every country in the world every day. It’s a new world. Infectious diseases and epidemiology have been transformed,” he explains.

The bar for science communication is “much higher now”, he says. “People have a very high level of expectation. They expect our scientists to explain to them and to unravel complexity. I believe that that’s a deservingly high bar to set and an expectation to have of our scientists. It’s our responsibility as scientists now to rise to that bar.

“You just listen to Dr Anthony Fauci. He sets the bar high and he leads from the front in setting that bar high. All of us can just aspire to get to that level.” DM/MC

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

South Africa