Diagnostic players in French-speaking Africa met for the 5th edition of the Afro-ACDx course from October 19 to 24, 2025, in Saly, Senegal. Building on the international ACDx program, Afro-ACDx was developed to strengthen the leadership skills of laboratories in West and Central Africa as part of a One Health approach, bringing representatives of human, animal, and environmental health together.

Delivered in French, the program alternated between presentations, round table talks, group work, and experience sharing. There was also a visit to the Institut Pasteur in Dakar to observe workflows and the organization and operation of a public health laboratory at close quarters. The class of 2025 included recipients of grants from the Fleming Fund and the French Development Agency via RESAOLAB.

The 14^th edition of the ACDx course took place from September 21 to 26, 2025, at the Les Pensières Center for Global Health. Created to promote the role and value of medical diagnostics, ACDx emphasizes the importance of strengthening laboratory capacity to improve patient care. The program covers subjects including antimicrobial resistance, preparing for epidemics, and technological and social innovation.

In 2025, a brand new module on the role of diagnostics in conflict situations and a new focus on gender issues in diagnostics were added to the course. In addition, the program was enriched with a workshop on antimicrobial resistance led by the WHO and an original video pitching session, where participants practiced presenting their projects to funding bodies and health ministries. Like every year, ACDx enabled attendees to strengthen their diagnostic decision-making abilities while consolidating an international network essential for the fight against infectious disease. In 2025, the course received support from the Gates Foundation and the US National Institutes of Health.

Launched in 2023, the most recent of the Mérieux Foundation’s advanced courses aims to establish a community of French-speaking epidemiologists working in human, animal, and environmental health able to provide a multidisciplinary, international response to emergency epidemic situations. Its teaching addresses the need to strengthen capacity in order to improve surveillance, alert systems, and control over emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. The third edition took place from July 7 to 11 at the Les Pensières Center for Global Health.

Targeting essential factors for progress in crisis contexts such as wars and natural disasters, EpiCourse emphasizes a field-based approach, with several case studies based on the use of new sampling and data collection technologies.

EpiCourse has been accredited by the European Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation since 2024, attesting to the quality of the courses delivered and enabling participants to obtain European training credits. This third edition of EpiCourse received financial support from CEPI and the Fleming Fund, making it possible to award grants to cover the course costs for several epidemiologists.

ADVAC aims to facilitate critical decision-making in vaccinology by offering a 360° overview that ranges from immunology to vaccine development and clinical trials, while addressing social, economic, political, and ethical issues relating to vaccination. As always, the strength of the Foundation’s training programs lies in its clear ambition to bring participants together to form a close-knit, motivated group that will remain in contact once the course is over.

The 2025 edition took place from May 5 to 16 at the Les Pensières Center for Global Health and celebrated the 25^th anniversary of its creation, an opportunity to pay tribute to the program’s founders, teachers, organizers, and former students. “Millions of lives have been saved thanks to vaccination, and this number will continue to rise if enough people receive proper training on the subject.” This is the mission that ADVAC has set itself, summarized by Professor Stanley Plotkin, a founding member of the program, in his speech at the evening event celebrating the course’s 25th anniversary.

This edition was also a chance to review the successes, difficulties, and challenges encountered along the way as a launchpad for thinking about potential developments in the coming years. In 2025, 59 European training credits were awarded to ADVAC by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.

Following the success of previous years, the 6th edition of the advanced course on antimicrobial resistance took place from November 10 to 14, 2025, at the Les Pensières Center for Global Health. The course is based on an interdisciplinary “One Health” approach, a prerequisite for effective programs to fight this global threat to public health, which makes infections more difficult to treat and jeopardizes several of the benefits of modern medicine.

Based on the WHO’s global action plan on antimicrobial resistance, the AMR course covers all aspects of the fight against AMR: understanding the mechanisms, monitoring resistance, multisectoral interventions, optimizing the use of antimicrobials, and arguments for long-term global investment. Its goals are to strengthen critical decision-making capacity in countries with limited resources through education, partnerships, and networking between experts in human, animal, and environmental health.

From December 8 to 10, 2025, the Mérieux Foundation organized a high-level international event dedicated to arboviral diseases, vector-borne illnesses transmitted by arthropod bites such as dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever. Rapid urbanization, climate change, and increased human mobility make it easier for disease vectors to proliferate and expand geographically, exposing ever-larger populations to the risk of infection.

The gathering brought together around forty scientific experts, representatives of international organizations and health authorities, researchers, and private-sector players to provide shared insights into the current epidemiological situation in the most affected areas, while encouraging participants to exchange best practices in surveillance, vector control, and epidemic response.

The discussions focused on participants’ experiences involving vaccination, community engagement, diagnostic tools, treatments, as well as research and clinical trials. The conclusions that emerged included the need to take action through coordinated, complementary approaches and to develop integrated strategies for managing arboviruses. The event was organized with backing from the WHO and financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Valneva, and Sanofi.

After several virtual gatherings, the Mekong Hepatitis Symposium returned to a face-to-face format from June 4 to 5, 2025, in Vientiane, Laos, attended by clinicians, researchers, and experts from South-East Asia. Launched in 2012 by the Laos Ministry of Health, the symposium now reflects a unique collaborative effort involving Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, . This major regional event, organized by the Center of Infectiology Lao-Christophe Mérieux, is recognized as a key platform for sharing knowledge about hepatitis and aligning national policies.

In 2025, the symposium opened with speeches by Laos’ Minister of Health and the French Ambassador. Several recent clinical studies were presented, including a study of vaccination in newborns in the Laos and in Thailand, and innovative case detection models in Cambodia and Vietnam. Treatment strategies and long-term complications, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer, were also discussed. At the close of the event, the scientific committee issued recommendations and renewed its call for cross-border collaboration. The aim was summarized by Dr. Soe Thet Lwin of the Asian Harm Reduction Network in Myanmar: “We must move from fragmented efforts to integrated treatment models, particularly for the most exposed populations.”

The 2025 hepatitis symposium received operational support from the Laotian company Open Sources Technology Sole and partners including the French Embassy in Laos, Chiang Mai University in Thailand, INSERM, and the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia.