The Pasteur Institute of Iran, in collaboration with the Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH), organized a joint training course in Pakistan titled "Outbreak Investigation and Control of Infectious Diseases." This initiative, stemmed from a memorandum of understanding between both organizations, took place from 17th to 28th of December 2023 and featured two courses held in Karachi and Islamabad, respectively. The course was facilitated by experts from the Pasteur Institute of Iran, along with a speaker from Iran’s Center for Disease Control at the Ministry of Health, and two speakers from the University of Karachi.

The primary objective of this course was to empower over 150 participants from 13 countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, Yemen, Nigeria, Uganda, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Jordan, and Bangladesh. The diverse audiences comprised general practitioners, master's and doctoral degree students, as well as researchers and early carrier faculty members.

Key topics covered during the course included outbreak planning, identification and establishment of outbreaks, environmental, laboratory, and epidemiological assessments, data management, biosafety and biosecurity measures during outbreaks, risk assessment concepts, ethics, and documentation of processes.

The significance of this collaborative effort was highlighted during the opening ceremony of the second course in Islamabad. Ambassador of Iran, Dr. Reza Amiri Moghadam, commended the Pasteur Institute of Iran and COMSTECH for their commitment on capacity building of young scholars and expressed support for the continuation of such initiatives. Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, Coordinator General of COMSTECH, emphasized the importance of the course and outlined COMSTECH's plans to strengthen future collaborations with Iran.

In addition to the training sessions, the Iranian delegation visited the University of Karachi as well as Pakistan’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institute of Health in Islamabad. During these visits, researchers from both countries exchanged experiences and discussed research topics of common interest, particularly in the field of viral diseases.

The collaborative course involved contributions from the Pasteur Institute of Iran, COMTEC Secretariat, and University of Karachi (including the Dr. Panjwani Center for Pharmaceutical and Molecular Medicine Research (PCMD) and the International Center for Biological and Chemical Studies (ICCBS)). In this regard, Dr. Kayhan Azadmanesh, Dr. Sana Eybpoosh, Dr. Arash Arashkia, and Dr. Fahimeh Bagheri Amiri from Pasteur Institute of Iran, Dr. Babak Eshrati from Iran University of Medical Sciences and Iran’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Atia-tul-Wahab and Dr. Saba Farooq from University of Karachi delivered speeches during the course.

This collaborative effort received widespread media coverage from outstanding news agencies of Pakistan, the Islamic world, and Iran. For detailed news coverage, please visit the links provided below:

pakobserver

dailyindependent

thenews

app

islamabadpost

dnanews

centreline

dawn