With a staff of 259, the Institut Pasteur Du Maroc is responsible for carrying out national research on infectious and parasitic diseases of humans, animals and plants, vaccinology, immunology, oncology, and genetics. It provides comprehensive training in microbiology and parasitology through the Center of Medical Biology. One of its core functions is to prepare and import serums, vaccines, and biological reagents.

IPM is divided into five major departments: infectious diseases; genetic diseases; immunizations; water, food, and environmental safety; and clinical biology. Last year, the institute played important roles in creating national policy for a potential Avian flu outbreak. It also took the lead in the surveillance of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and created one of the country’s largest comprehensive sexually transmitted infection studies.

The institute is currently undergoing a major restructuration due to an ongoing merger with the Institut National d’Hygiène, the Pharmacovigilance and Anti Poison Center, and other units of the Ministry of Health.

The primary mission of the National Institute of Hygiene is chronic disease surveillance, and it has worked vigorously to build Morocco’s online database for infectious disease surveillance. INH also plays a key role in monitoring food and drug quality in Morocco and acts as its medical accreditation and certification body.

With a staff of 199, the institute has developed national efforts related to pharmacological and toxicological defense, as well as strategies to survey and protect the environment relative to industrial and other pollution. It is made up of seven major departments: immunology–virology, medical bacteriology, toxicology– hydrology, human genetics, food microbiology, anathomo-pathology, and parasitology.

Last year, INH focused its research on HIV resistance genotyping, seasonal Influenza and acute respiratory infections surveillance, and genomic and immunological study of tuberculosis in the Moroccan population. The institute also actively supports a National Observatory of Human Pathogens, and fosters projects that examine the impact of environmental pollution on human health.

The institute is currently undergoing a major restructuration due to an ongoing merger with the Institut Pasteur Du Maroc, the Pharmacovigilance and Anti Poison Center and other units of the Ministry of Health. The merger will eventually lead to the creation of a comprehensive National Agency of Public Health.