17, rue Bourgelat 69002 Lyon / France Tel - Fondation Mérieux

At the time this annual report was being finished, our friend Youssouf Issabre had passed
away. He was the Director of the Charles Mérieux Center in Bamako and was responsible
for the Fondation Mérieux’s activities in West Africa.
Born in 1953 in Mali, Youssouf Issabre studied Pharmacy in Senegal, then in France, where
he graduated Doctor of Pharmacy. He was made a member of the Légion d’Honneur in
2005.
Youssouf joined bioMérieux in 1980 to spearhead many projects, in particular a program
for rapid diagnosis tests for developing countries.
Beginning in 2002, he worked with Fondation Mérieux before being transferred there in
2004 to establish and run the Charles Mérieux Center in Bamako, Mali. He contributed to the
success of the Action BioMali Program aiming at enhancing clinical diagnosis capacities in
sub-Saharan Africa.
We would like to pay tribute to this exceptional man whose enthusiasm, courage and
tenacity drove the success of major public health projects in Mali, his native country.
Through his strong commitment, he succeeded in, as he said, “giving a meaning to his
life… and bringing a message of shared hope, a message of solidarity”.
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