On October 18th, 2014 the Institut Pasteur in French Guiana received Mrs. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research.
Surrounded by Mr. Eric Spitz, Prefect of French Guiana, Mr. Rodolphe Alexandre, President of the Regional Council of French Guiana, Mr. Bernard Chemoul, Director of the Guiana Space Center and Dr. Mirdad Kazanji, Director of the Institut Pasteur, Ms. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem inaugurated the "Vectopole Amazon, Émile Abonnenc ", first unit of Entomology of this magnitude in French Guiana with an area of 500 square meters consisting of a laboratory – Biosafety Level 3 which extends over 100 m2.
The " Amazonian Vectopole, Émile Abonnenc " which owes its name to the first entomologist of the Institut Pasteur in French Guiana in 1941, was financed in part by STRonGer program, "Strengthening the scientific platform" with the support of the Institut Pasteur, the Guiana Space Center, the Regional Council of French Guiana, the Remire-Montjoly French Guiana Rotary Club and EDF Guiana.
STRonGer (Strengthening Transdisciplinary Research on Infectious and Emerging Diseases in French Guiana: linking fieldwork, benchside and bedside) is a scientific program with a duration of 3 years, funded by the European Commission, for an amount of EUR 3.7 million, whose objective is to strengthen the capacity of existing medical research in French Guiana - both from the perspective of human resources in terms of research laboratories - to better address the infectious health risks incurred by the Guyanese population .
