Fiocruz Amazônia presents areas of activity to ambassadors from Southeast Asia

The Leônidas e Maria Deane Institute (ILMD/Fiocruz Amazônia) was visited by seven of the ten ambassadors from Southeast Asian countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The purpose of the visit was to get to know the institution with a view to prospecting future cooperation with Fiocruz, more specifically on the subject of tropical diseases, as well as exchanges of researchers, given the similarities between Brazil and these countries. The delegation, made up of ambassadors from Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, East Timor, Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam, along with a representative from the Cambodian Embassy, was joined by Antonio Junqueira, manager of the General Coordination of Cooperation at the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), and the coordinator responsible at Itamaraty for relations between Brazil and ASEAN, Patrícia Camargo.

The group was welcomed by the director of Fiocruz Amazônia, Stefanie Lopes, accompanied by the institution's researchers. ASEAN is an association created in 1967 which also represents Brunei, Laos and East Timor (in the process of joining). The purpose of the delegation's trip to Amazonas was to explore the potential for cooperation in priority areas, such as defense and agriculture, and to begin discussions on public health. Stefanie Lopes presented the structure of Fiocruz Amazônia, in terms of research and teaching, as well as its installed capabilities and operations in the region.

The visitors had the opportunity to see the laboratory structure of the unit's Surveillance Center for Emerging, Re-emerging or Neglected Viruses, responsible for the genomic sequencing of pathogens, and to learn about research initiatives such as the Larvicide Dissemination Stations (EDLs), of the Center for Pathogens, Reservoirs and Vectors in the Amazon (PReV Amazônia), and the validation of the new medicine for vivax malaria, Tafenoquine, administered in a single dose, a study coordinated by the Carlos Borborema Clinical Research Institute Laboratory (IPCCB). 

“This request for a visit from ASEAN is very important so that the countries know what Fiocruz Amazônia does in terms of public health and so that the Association can reflect on the public health interfaces between the countries, the types of cooperation that can be established in bilateral agreements,” said Stefanie, noting that there are so many similarities between Southeast Asia and Brazil that it is unjustifiable not to take greater joint action to mitigate the impact on the health of the population in these countries. In addition to diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, the ASEAN countries and the Amazon have their own peculiarities in terms of climate and population distribution. "The presence of the ambassadors shows a rapprochement and a shift in perspective towards the issue of health, so dear to us at Fiocruz," she said.

Infectious disease specialist Marcus Lacerda, from Fiocruz Amazônia and head of the IPCCB Laboratory, highlighted the epidemiological similarities between Southeast Asia countries and Brazil in terms of malaria and dengue. He pointed out that the Southeast Asia countries are great generators of knowledge about dengue. "We have been living with dengue fever in Latin America for less time than the Southeast Asia countries. The disease, however, has become a serious health problem for Brazil, which had the largest dengue epidemic this year, impacting the Brazilian health system," he noted.

Lacerda recalled that in the case of malaria, both in Southeast Asia and Latin America, the vivax type of the disease is prevalent but neglected, which has brought closer together multicenter studies for the development of new drugs between Latin America and Southeast Asia. "However, these are usually studies coordinated by institutions in countries in the Northern Hemisphere or Australia," said the expert, stressing the importance of a more direct approach between the nations of Southeast Asia and Brazil for new collaborations.

For Lúcia Marques, advisor to the Center for International Relations in Health (Cris/Fiocruz), who was present at the visit, the delegation's trip to Fiocruz Amazônia was of fundamental importance in the process of building new cooperation between the Southeast Asia countries and Brazil, with the Foundation as a reference point. “ASEAN is a bloc of growing importance on the international stage and this meeting reflects Brazilian foreign policy, which is turning its attention to ASEAN countries,” said Lúcia, highlighting Fiocruz's role in research into the development of drugs and vaccines, and especially Fiocruz Amazônia's role in studies into arboviruses and malaria.

Fiocruz Amazônia researcher Sérgio Luz, coordinator of the Amazon PReV Center, believes that the visit was of great importance due to its capacity and potential, especially for international collaboration with countries that are in a similar tropical and subtropical climate to Brazil and with similar epidemiological profiles. "The problems arising from these diseases are almost exactly the same and the solutions will also go in the same direction. For us, the rapprochement with the Southeast Asia countries is a hope, because they are the last frontiers of existing collaborations. Brazil has major agreements with the BRIC group, but has no affinity with the epidemiological profiles of these countries. This also brings a very important approach in the context of global health," said the researcher.