The Pasteur-Mérieux course: “Infectious agents and tumors” was held in Vientiane, Laos from March 18-29 2013 at three sites: the Pasteur Institute of Laos (IPL), the Christophe Mérieux Infectiology Centre of Laos (CICML) and Institut de la Francophonie pour la Médecine Tropicale (IFMT).
Fifteen participants from Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and China attended the course after rigorous selection by the Scientific Program Committee. This event addressed in particular doctors, pharmacists and scientists, who are young university graduates in the health sciences in South-East Asia.
This course enabled participants to discover the epidemiological and clinical relationships between infections and cancers. They learned about the role of bacterial, viral and parasitic infectious agents involved in the oncogenesis and laboratory techniques for the diagnosis of these infectious agents. It gave participants the foundation for the development of strategies for screening and prevention of cancers induced by infectious agents, meeting the need for building capacities for screening and prevention of infection-related cancers in the region.
Local and French experts from famous teaching hospitals and research institutes, were lecturers at this course, which was held for two weeks for almost sixty hours of training. The program included theoretical courses, clinical case studies, analysis of articles and tutorials.
Following the very positive evaluation made by the participants, a new edition of this course is being considered in a few years. Organized by Fondation Mérieux in collaboration with the IFMT and the Pasteur Institute of Paris, the course was part of the regional project “Cancer and infectious agents in South-East Asia”, also marked by the 4th Charles Mérieux Conference, which was held in Laos just before the course.
