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AFD Delegation Visits the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge in the Framework of ECOMORE 3’s Forthcoming Launch

On May 20, 2024, a distinguished delegation from the Agence française de développement (AFD), including Marie-Hélène Loison, Deputy Director of AFD, Jean-Pierre Marcelli, SEA Regional Director of AFD, Sandrine Boucher, Director of AFD Cambodia, along with other prominent members from the regional bureau, visited the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC).

The visit began with an introductory talk by André Spiegel, Director of IPC, who provided an overview of the institute’s mission and its various research activities. Following this, Emilie Carlot, ECOMORE Regional Coordinator, delivered a presentation on the project’s structure and objectives, particularly highlighting the commencement of the third chapter of the initiative. Vincent Herbreteau, Health Geographer from the IRD, then elaborated on the climate component of the ECOMORE project, emphasizing its significance in understanding the environmental factors influencing disease dynamics.

This visit was part of the preparations for the imminent signing of an agreement between Institut Pasteur Paris and AFD, aimed at launching the new phase of the ECOMORE project. The collaboration seeks to further enhance regional public health initiatives and strengthen the fight against emerging infectious diseases.

After the meeting, the delegation was given a comprehensive tour of the IPC laboratories. The visitors had the opportunity to witness firsthand the cutting-edge research being conducted. IPC’s visit by the AFD delegation underscores the vital partnership between the two institutions and their shared commitment to advancing public health research and interventions in Southeast Asia.

About the ECOMORE 3 project:

AFD’s new program on strengthening health security in the Indo-Pacific region will support the prevention, preparedness, and response to epidemics in the member states and territories of the Indian Ocean Commission and the Pacific Community, as well as the partner countries of the ECOMORE program in Southeast Asia, namely Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Specifically, the project aims to: (i) strengthen the integrated approaches to human, animal, and environmental health of these three surveillance networks; and (ii) create a framework for inter-network cooperation on the four identified work axes:

  1. Laboratory: Enh
    ance diagnostics and quality assurance of laboratories involved in integrated surveillance.

  2. Health/Climate: Develop the consideration of climatic and environmental factors in integrated surveillance.

  3. Surveillance: Strengthen the One Health approach in infectious disease surveillance strategies.

  4. Response: Reinforce One Health mechanisms in emergency responses to improve public health emergency response.

In Southeast Asia, the objective will be to study the circulation of priority zoonotic and vector-borne diseases using innovative laboratory diagnostic approaches, associating them with the measurement of environmental and climatic factors, and characterizing potential vectors and reservoirs.