In the wake of the SARS and avian flu epidemics in South-East Asia in 2003, the government of Laos requested the help of the Institut Pasteur to create a new national institute for biomedical research and public health.
The Institut Pasteur in Laos was thus created in 2007 following an agreement between the Board of Directors of the Institut Pasteur and the Lao Ministry of Health in November 2006. Construction will begin in the national capital, Vientiane, in early 2010.
As an independent and autonomous entity, the missions of the Institut Pasteur in Laos will include scientific research, support of national public health activities, and teaching and training on infectious diseases. These activities will centre on emerging viruses and vector-borne diseases, notably in relation to the building of the Nam Theun dam.
