BBC: Article 'How 3 Musketeers Helped Georgia Fight Coronavirus' not Commissioned

"The presumption that the article “Coronavirus: How ‘Three Musketeers’ Helped Georgia Fight Virus” is commissioned is not true," says the Press Service of BBC.

On July 7, Zurab Japaridze, the leader of the Girchi Party said that the Georgian government was ordering foreign media to write articles about the success of Georgia in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

Georgian Public Broadcaster asked BBC to answer the allegation and received the following answer:

“It is not true that this article was commissioned. It is true that an advertisement is published on BBC.COM, but BBC News and current news cannot be sponsored. We do not accept political advertising. Like the rest of the BBC News, this article is an independent and impartial piece of journalism that complies with our editorial rules,” the BBC’s press service said.

On July 6, BBC published an article about Georgian epidemiologists, entitled "How 'Three Musketeers' Helped Georgia Fight Coronavirus." 

The author of the article, Georgia is enjoying the distinction of being included in a list of 15 non-EU states the European Union considers safe enough to open its borders to, being the only former Soviet republic to achieve that status, and emphasizes the contribution of the country's epidemiologists in this important achievement. 

"In Georgia, the NCDC's scientists have become widely respected for their decision-making. The trio included the head of the NCDC, Amiran Gamkrelidze, the man in charge of the Lugar lab, Paata Imnadze, and the main virologist, Tengiz Tsertsvadze, who is head of Tbilisi's infectious diseases, Aids and immunology research center.

"Another popular figure was the face of the public health campaign, Marina Egubaia, who is the medical head of Tbilisi's infectious diseases hospital," BBC reported.  

By Ana Dumbadze 

Source: 1tv.ge

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11 July 2020 22:14