Collective commitments for PREZODE at the One Health Summit

The Summit marked a decisive moment, establishing PREZODE as a truly global initiative for prevention and One Health. Key announcements and commitments were delivered during high-level sessions and side meetings, sustaining its activities and programmes.

Held in Lyon on April 6-7, 2026, the One Health Summit brought together over 2,000 participants, including official representatives from 38 countries, 25 international and regional organizations, and 12 development banks, companies, and philanthropic actors. PREZODE seized the moment to present its recent activities, with a detailed activity report, a first policy brief, and new videos.

• President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the international expansion of the Initiative and France’s long-term commitment.
• The World Bank’s Vice President announced a collaboration with PREZODE, especially through collaboration on a regional health programme in West and Central Africa.
• The Islamic Development Bank also declared its engagement -projects within PREZODE member countries are under discussion.
• The Director General of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) officially launched a joint working group on science-policy dialogue.
• At the regional and global level, memoranda of understanding were signed with the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), the Pacific Community (SPC), and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN).
• Seven new countries joined the collective effort: Armenia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Indonesia, Kenya, Libya, and Mauritania.
• Two strategic institutions – the Public Health Agency of Canada and Fiocruz (Agency of the Ministry of Health, Brazil)- confirmed their membership in PREZODE.
• Additionally, the Summit also provided an opportunity to unveil further details on ASEACA‘s project — the third component of the PREACTS programme — covering Southern and Eastern Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean.
• PREZODE’s regional networks continue to expand, with PREZODE One Health in Action in the Pacific (OHANA) translating One Health into concrete actions on the ground.
• ILRI and CGIAR have offered strengthened support to the PREZODE Secretariat.

Thematic sessions at ministerial level

Philippe Baptiste, the French minister of Higher Education, Research, and Space, opened the thematic sessions by synthesizing the 48 recommendations that emerged from the scientific symposium held on April 6, in which various experts from PREZODE participated. These recommendations span five core themes: antimicrobial resistance, zoonoses, sustainable food systems, and environmental health — encompassing pollution and climate change. It specifically advocated for stronger multisectorality and inter- and trans-disciplinarity across governance structures and collaborative practices, to consolidate the institutionalization and operationalization of One Health.

Regarding (re)emerging infectious diseases, the key recommendations are as follows:

• Place primary prevention at the forefront of public policy, with a focus on high-risk points of contact between humans, animals, and the environment.
• Support One Health surveillance and prevention systems through an inclusive science–state–society dialogue.
• Adopt a territorial approach to prioritize and guide One Health interventions at the local and regional level.
• Develop integrated strategies for the monitoring, prevention, and control of emerging infectious disease outbreaks.
• Strengthen land and water use planning and urbanization policies in line with One Health principles.

The Science symposium had been prepared by Dr. Thierry Lefrançois, former Interim Secretary General of PREZODE and special advisor on One Health to the president of CIRAD, and Dr. Eric Cardinale, ANSES. Various experts from PREZODE participated in this symposium, namely Drs. Prisca Mugabe, Nitish Debnath, and Magga Robalo (members of our Steering Committee), Dr. Marisa Peyre (CIRAD, co-founder of PREZODE) and Dr. Chris Walzer (Wildlife Conservation Society).

Dr. Soawapak Hinjoy, President of PREZODE’s General Assembly, participated in the session “Zoonotic Reservoirs and Vectors”. She presented PREZODE’s vision and missions. She introduced her address, reminding that prevention is not incidental to PREZODE — it is embedded in its very name, as the first word of the acronym that composes it, reflecting the Initiative’s founding ambition. She offered concrete examples of programmes in Southeast Asia — including rabies transmission in dumping sites where stray dogs and jackals converge. A One Health approach to preventing spillover requires better management of such sites, illustrating how interconnected human, animal, and environmental health truly is.

Side Events

• Preventing Pandemics at Source: a One Health Approach, from Local to Global

On April 6, PREZODE co-hosted a strategic event, bringing together a coalition of international partners — the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, FOUR PAWS, rani, AVSF, ILRI, WCS, WOAH, and the World Bank — the session highlighted the health and economic benefits of investing in primary prevention. Learn more about the session and speakers. Read more about this meeting here.
This event was labeled as part of the One Health Festival.

• One Sustainable Health Factory – Presentation of the PREZODE data platform

Dr Paula Cáceres (Chief Data Officer, PREZODE) presented the PREZODE international platform at the OSH Factory, Lyon, on April 8. It is an invitation to discover the platform as a global, open information system in development to make zoonotic disease prevention more visible.