The 2nd General Assembly of PREZODE (PREventing ZOonotic Disease Emergence) took place on 16^th November 2023. Within a year, the initiative strengthened its community, which increased from 160 members to almost 230 members– including research centers, academia, civil society, international organizations, foundations, and others – and 25 governments[1], and has achieved its first objectives.

Operational Governing bodies

Dr Papa Serigne Seck has been elected President of the General Assembly. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, he is the Technical Advisor to the President of the Republic of Senegal in charge of One Health. He succeeds to Dr Jean-Luc Angot, Special Envoy of the French President for PREZODE to the position. See Dr. Seck's biography here.

A Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and in Public Health, Dr Soawapak Hinjoy, incumbent Director of the Office of International Cooperation, Department of Disease Control in the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand, has been elected Vice-President. See Dr. Hinjoy’s biography here.

Both the President and Vice-President have been elected for a 2-year term mandate.

Established in July 2023, the PREZODE Steering Committee has already started its work to implement the Scientific Strategic Agenda. Chaired by Dr. Musso Munyeme, Doctor in Veterinary Public Health, Senior Lecturer and Researcher University of Zambia, the Steering Committee gathers renowned experts to lead scientific working groups on international and regional levels. Read more about the Committee here.

The operational body of the Initiative, the Secretariat is now well structured. Dr. Zeev Noga, the appointed Secretary-General, has taken office in May. See Dr. Noga's biography here.

Enhancing Global cooperation

The organization is now up and running. The GA 2023 meeting provided updates on the Pandemic Fund and an example of allocation in Zambia, on the Belgian PREZODE network and on field projects conducted through the PREACTS program in Cambodia, Cameroon, Congo, Guinea-Conakry, and Madagascar, and on the development process of the program in Mexico, Costa Rica, Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lao and Thailand. It also delivered reports from the WHO-PREZODE Working group on risk monitoring and announced the establishment of an FAO-PREZODE Working group on the return on investment of prevention.

PREZODE will launch on December 1st a call for experts to join the 5 Pillars Working Groups to ensure a broad and inclusive co-construction process and to maximize the synergies between disciplines, sectors, and geographic areas. The procedure and information to apply will be found on the PREZODE website on the due date.

Media Contact:

Catherine Dernis - +33 6 99 89 52 33

communication@prezode.org

info@prezode-initiative.org

[1] *As of the 15th of November, the country members involved are Belgium, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Chile, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominica, Gabon, France, Guinea Conakry, Congo, Haiti, Laos, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Thailand, Vietnam, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The full list of members is to be find here.