Lorraine. Agnès Buzyn in Nancy: “The quest for truth is essential for democracy”

This is the second year that Nancy, a flagship of science, research, and medicine in France, has hosted the"Place(s) of Democracy" Forum, organized by Terra Nova and L'Est Républicain. This year, the forum will address the link between science and democracy. Is this rapprochement more necessary today?
"With this forum, we are trying to bring to life the questions that our democracies are facing around fake news and information crises. The question facing us and citizens today is that of truth: how can citizens draw on shared facts to fuel public debate in a democracy? Many people confuse democracy with voting these days. But you can vote and live in an autocracy; take Russia for example. Whereas what makes a democracy is the informed deliberation of citizens who have access to good information. In the current general context, Nancy appears to be an important moment to illustrate the extent to which the scientific approach, the quest for truth, and the absence of ideological populism are essential for Western democracies."
You are the president of Evidences. On Thursday, June 5, you are publishing a groundbreaking report on science and girls. Why?
"From the very first day of the Forum, this Thursday, June 5, we will be debating the role of women in science. We will indeed be publishing an important report on the issue, which will provide a new lever for action to encourage girls to pursue scientific and technical careers. We have a problem with this issue, apart from medicine. We need a female perspective on AI, climate change , etc."
In 2025, without science, we don't have democracy?
"I think that obscurantism is a way to fuel populism. When science is attacked, as in the USA today, citizens no longer have access to the facts, to reality, and so we no longer all live in the same world... Science, which is not partisan, I remind you, brings us one essential thing: lucidity, which is inseparable from democracy."
A simple solution to fight obscurantism?
“Every time you see information that makes you react, either with anger or indignation, be sure that you are being manipulated… True science does not seek to create emotion, it seeks to describe reality. Another sign of populism: when people are too sure of themselves, like Didier Raoult who, during Covid, uttered fixed truths in an uncertain period… This is contrary to the spirit and neutrality of science.”
Do you regret anything about the Covid period, Covid that you saw coming first?
“I fought like crazy to make scientists and the government aware of the seriousness of the situation, without success. My voice carried less… I learned a lot at that time. One thing in particular: from now on, I will always say what I think. Always.”
Le Républicain Lorrain