Building the PREZODE international initiative for Preventing Zoonotic Disease Emergence

Several regional workshops which were held from 14 to 17 December and a plenary session on 18 December 2020 were organized at the initiative of INRAE, CIRAD and the IRD to bring together international research forces in order to prevent the risk of the emergence of zoonoses. They involved almost 400 participants from 50 countries on 5 continents, half of whom are actors in the field of biodiversity, environmental, animal and human health and half are researchers.

These discussions and preparatory work have led to an international initiative aimed at preventing the risks of a pandemic: the PREZODE programme launched at the One Planet Summit for Biodiversity organized on 11 January 2021 at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron.

PREZODE is an initiative led by France, under the aegis of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. It has been launched by three French research institutes (INRAE, CIRAD, IRD) in cooperation with other research organizations, namely ANSES, the Pasteur Institute and the international network of Pasteur Institutes, INSERM, CNRS and CNES in France, as well as in Germany the Helmholtz, the Friedrich Loeffler Institute and Charité Institute of Virology and in the Netherlands, Wageningen University. The international organisations which are members of the tripartite (FAO, OIE, WHO), as well as the European Commission, the UNEP and the World Bank have expressed their interest, particularly during the plenary session on 18 December 2020.

The highlights of the preparatory discussions on video: