Prevention of biomedical risks

The Workshop proposed to address the issue of Prevention of Biomedical Risks from a multidisciplinary perspective. Whereas Risk Prevention in other areas, as seismology or volcanology, has been reasonably well covered in recent years, there are only scarce examples of meetings associating Social and Natural Scientists on issues of risks. The Workshop project was original, both with respect to its scope and in the Indo-French context.

Objectives

To explore a still poorly covered interface of common interest for both countries, and to identify potential joint interdisciplinary research projects. The proceedings of the Workshop will be edited as a book, inasmuch as possible in cooperation with a European and an Indian publisher, in order to achieve appropriate diffusion.

Format

A total of 5-6 speakers from each country and from both the biomedical field and social sciences were invited as lecturers. Space was allowed for attendance by a few younger Indian investigators. Speakers were distributed in four/five half-day sessions. Each session addressed a discrete level of risk prevention, such as risk identification, modelling, prevention and management. The approach was illustrated at all levels by examples chosen mainly in fields related to infectious and parasite borne diseases, air- and water-borne microbiological pollution and water quality control. Inclusion of nosocomial diseases was considered an option, as well as lessons from problems encountered when managing biomedical consequences of the recent tsunami.

Presentation time was limited to 30 minutes, with ample time for discussion at the end of each session. Either disciplinary community had the opportunity to challenge the other on each issue of the programme.

• First day (Thursday March 2) : arrival of participants and transfer from Chennai airport to Pondicherry. In the afternoon, Inaugural Session and Keynote Lectures were presented.

• Second day (Friday March 3) : a first session dealt with the perception of biomedical risks. Themes explored were the identification methods, the impact of cultural sensitivities and critical assessment of actual risks (including their fantasmatic perception). The second session dealt with methodological aspects. Lessons were shared from Indian and French experiences. There was knowledge sharing, of modelling of disease spread and holistic and multidisciplinary approaches to epidemia.

• Third day (Saturday, March 4) : discussions on Risk Prevention measurements. The definition, availability and social acceptability of early preventive measures were explored. In the afternoon, a visit to the French Institute of Pondicherry and the ICMR Vector Research control Centre was scheduled.

• Fourth day (Sunday, March 5) : the first theme to be under spotlight was risk management. The design and assessment of coordinated responses, and the impact of the precaution principle were scrutinized. The second session held talks on the prevention of consequences of natural disasters, the anticipation of biomedical risks related to naturals disasters, with lessons drawn from the 2004 tsunami.

To conclude, discussions were held on potential cooperative research projects identified during the workshop.

Programme Schedule

Consult detailed schedule

Venue

French Institute of Pondicherry

Organizer

Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR) / Centre Franco-Indien pour la Promotion de la Recherche Avançée (CEFIPRA)

Organizing committee

• President of the CEFIPRA Scientific Committee and Advisory committee chair :
• Prof Hervé Friedman
• Program Coordinator and Advisory Committee co-chair : Prof Claude Kordon
• Advisory Committee co-chair : Gilles Tarabout

Partnerships

• French Embassy in New Delhi
• Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Paris
• Institut Français de Pondicherry

Participants

• Dr. Alain-Jacques Valleron, Unité de Santé Publique, France
• Dr. Antoine Flahault, WHO Collaborating Centre for Electronic Disease Surveillance, France
• Dr. Camille Locht, Institut Pasteur de Lille, France
• Dr. Didier Torny, Institut National de la Recherche agronomique (INRA), France
• Dr. Geneviève Paicheler, Sociological and political approaches to prevention, CERMES, France
• Prof. Hervé Fridman, Centre de Recherches Biomédicales des Cordeliers, France
• Dr. J.P. Muliyil, Christian Medical College Hospital, India
• Dr. M.D. Gupte, National Institute of Epidemology (INIE), India
• Prof. M.R.S. Rao, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, India
• Prof. Michel Kazatchkine, Ambassadeur chargé de la lutte contre le VIH/SIDA et les maladies transmissibles, France
• Prof. P.K. Das, Vector Research Center, India
• Prof. Patrice Bourdelais, Ecole des Hautes-Etudes en Sciences sociales, France
• Dr. Philippe Duneton, Ministry of Health and Solidarity, 8 Avenue de Ségur, France
• Prof. Prabha Chandra, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), India
• Prof. R.K. Mutatkar, University of Pune, India
• Dr. Sanjay Mehendale, National Aids Research Institute, India
• Dr. T. Jacob John, India
• Dr. V.I. Mathan, F.N.A, India
• Prof. Vimla Nadkarni, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India