The operational AfriCam project, coordinated by Cirad in collaboration with IRD under the PREZODE banner, aims at preventing zoonosis emergence by building resilient socio-ecosystems and sustainable, economically viable zoonotic disease surveillance systems. It also intends to contribute to the building of resilient socio-ecosystems.
One year after the signing of the financing grant for the AfriCam project with AFD, a meeting presenting cross-cutting activities and exchanges brought together the 34 national partners from the 5 countries involved – Cambodia, Cameroon, Guinea, Madagascar, and Senegal. At the global level, after various phases of contracting between partners, the Scientific and Cross-cutting Animation Committee formalized the transverse themes that will be developed between countries. The first operational activities have been launched. In Madagascar, for example, surveys and sampling in the canine population have already been carried out. In Senegal, communities in the two study sites (departments of Dagana and Kedougou) have progressed in structuring operations.
The first step of the PREACTS programme
Over three years, the project aims to satisfy national requirements in the five target countries based on the pillars of the PREZODE initiative:
- Boosting knowledge of the risks of zoonosis emergence at the human-animal-ecosystem interface, depending on the local sociocultural context, environment, and uses and socioeconomic constraints
- Identifying, monitoring and reducing those risks by working with frontline players to build local surveillance strategies to fuel public policy on a broader scale
- Understanding gender inequalities concerning zoonotic disease emergence, to take them into account more effectively in risk prevention and reduction strategies
- Building risk management capacity on a territory level by supporting existing players and local initiatives
- Build capacity among and improve the inclusion of local organizations through participatory science and organizing ongoing science-society-policy dialogue
- Strengthening partnerships and promoting collaborations between initiatives and sectors, using existing tools and/or tools developed by other projects.
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