Letters

Forward-looking initiative

LETTERS: Almost 40 years ago, two top scientific institutions in France and Malaysia decided to work together on an unusual mission: sifting the Malaysian jungle for wild plants in search of natural substances which could help cure diseases.

In a way, this was the missing link between the traditional herbal healing of the bomoh and the most advanced technologies of the chemistry laboratories.

Forty years later, this approach appears stunningly forward-looking, as we realise how much we could benefit from the huge biodiversity of the tropical forest in our search for new molecules, and in the face of new diseases such as Covid-19.

Over the last decades, health issues have indeed become more and more global.

The current pandemic is proof of this: determinants, transmission and management of the disease are oblivious to state boundaries. And therefore so also must be health research.

France and Malaysia initiated their health research cooperation in the 1980s. The results of our joint scientific projects in all areas are published in international reviews recognised for their high impact factor — a measurement of the influence of an article by the number of times it is quoted by other scientists.

In the field of health, joint research between our two countries covers a wide range of issues, from the health benefits of Malaysian plants and the study of the food and eating habits in our two countries, to paediatric health or cancer epigenetics.

France and Malaysia have more recently established two joint international laboratories.

Since 2015, the International French-Malaysian Natural Products Laboratory, managed by Universiti Malaya and the Institute for the Chemistry of Natural Substances in France, has further developed the study of the biological and medical potential of molecules extracted from plants from Peninsular Malaysia.

This joint research has already found applications in major pathologies: cancers, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

It has also led to the publication of more than 150 joint articles and to three patent registrations. The team is now turning its attention to studying the effect of plant extracts on infectious diseases, including Covid-19.

Since 2016, the "Food, Culture and Health" joint laboratory between Taylor's University and Toulouse Jean-Jaures University has been conducting studies on how and what we eat in different environments.

They aim to better understand how eating habits have evolved in the context of the rapid urbanisation and modernisation in Malaysia in recent decades.

Mirror studies allow scientific teams in France and Malaysia to share and compare their results. These projects will provide valuable insights for future policies to fight obesity and improve public health.

In 2019, the governments of France and Malaysia launched the Hibiscus Science Partnership to support mobility of researchers involved in bilateral projects.

The first edition selected, among others, a project between the International Medical University (Kuala Lumpur) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (Lyon, France) to study the epigenetics of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Its preliminary scientific results are already promising.

In the second edition of the programme, this year, several selected projects are also related to health, from the study of new pharmaceutical compounds to cardiology or oncology.

Apart from the existing cooperation between governments, universities or hospitals, initiatives by private companies are also highly supportive.

L'Oreal, for example, promotes the involvement of women in science with its annual joint award with Unesco.

Its latest edition in Malaysia, in October 2019, supported research on breast cancer and obesity control.

France and Malaysia are at work together to advance long-term health research.

We are ready to further develop this cooperation, as the tragic challenges of the current pandemic only highlight the essential importance of such research for our societies.

IR. DR ANGELINE BLANC-SERRE

ATTACHE FOR COOPERATION IN SCIENCE AND HIGHER EDUCATION, EMBASSY OF FRANCE, KUALA LUMPUR


The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times

Most Popular
Related Article
Says Stories