MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil to build lab marking pandemic readiness

“All countries need to prepare for new pandemics,” Trindade noted

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attended this week the laying of the foundation stone for the Orion Project, a laboratory complex specialized in disease-causing pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites to be built in Campinas, in the State of São Paulo. According to Agencia Brasil, the facility is expected to be the most advanced in Latin America and one of the most important in the world.

Thursday's ceremony took place on the campus of the National Center for Energy and Materials Research, which also houses the Sirius Project, a 68,000-square-meter particle accelerator - the largest research infrastructure ever built in Brazil. The Sirius structure will be connected to Orion, a groundbreaking development in pathogen research, as the particle accelerator can reveal intricate details of atomic structures.

“I want to leave my grandchildren and great-grandchildren a world that is infinitely better, more humanistic, healthier, and more democratic than the one I inherited from my parents. I believe this should be at the forefront of our minds: what kind of world do we want?” Lula said.

“Orion will enable our country to monitor, isolate, and research biological agents to develop diagnostic methods, vaccines, and treatments for diseases,” Science Minister Luciana Santos also pointed out.

Orion is part of Brazil's New Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). By June 2024, R$ 240 million (US$ 43.62 million) had been allocated to the project. An additional R$ 760 million (US$ 138.14 million) is expected by 2026, bringing the total investment to over R$ 1 billion (US$ 181.77 million).

“All countries need to prepare for new pandemics, and Orion is part of PAC's initiative to prepare for future health emergencies,” Health Minister Nísia Trindade noted.