CIRMF

In the early 1970 s, the President of the Gabonese Republic, His Excellency Omar Bongo Ondimba, expressed the desire to establish a medical research centre, primarily aimed at improving human fertility in his country. The completion of the project began on 5 December 1979 by the inauguration of the Franceville International Medical Research Centre (CIRMF), a remarkable research agency located inside Central Africa, with the most advanced material and technical resources available to the world at the time.
CIRMF, resolutely forward-looking by its advances in medical research (more than 500 publications in scientific journals referenced) and its interactions with the Gabonese research and training institutes (more than 50 phd trained to date), pursues its primary objectives of medical research, training and support for public health by diversifying its actions in research areas. varied and expanded to the current questions posed by the environment, ecology applied to health. Research is focused on virology, parasitology, primatologie, haematology and health ecology.
CIRMF now has one of the largest primatologie centers in the world, and unique with respect to mandrill monkey colonies on day parole and the sun-tailed monkey colony, Ambassador of biodiversity for Gabon.

It also houses a high-safety unit with a P 4 laboratory, unique in Francophone Africa, which allows diagnosis and research on highly pathogenic germs, such as Ebola fever or other emerging viral diseases. The centre has state-of-the-art equipment, enabling it to produce diagnostic tools and develop strategies to actively combat AIDS, malaria, influenza A (H 1 N 1), sickle cell, chikungunya, hemorrhagic fevers, childhood diarrhoea.
The CIRMF is currently directed by Dr. Eric Leroy, Director General, and Dr. Jean-Sylvain Kouma, Deputy Director General. The visit of this high place of science is unavoidable, even if we are not necessarily interested in research, as evidenced by the many messages left on the institution's guestbook.