2024 PREZODE General Assembly
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) participated in the 2024 PREZODE (Preventing ZOonotic Disease Emergence) General Assembly, held in Brussels on November 21st, 2024. Hosted in a hybrid format and co-organised by the Belgian Government, the event highlighted participants' strong commitment and engagement in advancing the Initiative’s mission.
WCS’s Lucy Keatts, member of the PREZODE Steering Committee, highlighted the critical need to employ a risk-based approach rather than a pathogen-centric approach to effectively prevent pandemics. Zoonotic disease spillover and emergence are driven by increased contact between wildlife, humans, and their domestic animals. Contact is escalated by human encroachment on and degradation of natural ecosystems, expansion of industrial agriculture and extractive industries, and wildlife trade chains and associated markets, particularly in urban areas.
WCS's Lucy Keatts presenting at the PREZODE GA
Research shows the clear value of investing in the following pandemic prevention approaches to save lives, protect economies, and strengthen community resilience, with co-benefits for biodiversity, climate, and achieving the SDGs:
🌿 Protecting and restoring functional and resilient ecosystems;
🌿 Reducing high-risk behaviors and practices;
🌿 Increasing wildlife and participatory surveillance at source for early warning systems.
Learn more here 👉 oneworldonehealth.wcs.org
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PREZODE is an international initiative promoting prevention, early detection, and resilience to rapidly respond to emerging infectious diseases of animal origin (zoonoses). It fosters multilateral collaboration with and between countries and other initiatives, to improve ecosystem management and to strengthen surveillance, with a multi-actor dynamic, thus maximizing impacts. The PREZODE initiative is based on a One Health approach, linking human health, animal health, and environmental health. Learn more: prezode.org