Mexico City and Paris have signed a cooperation agreement on the prevention of pandemic risks, announced Friday, June 18, Mexico, which thus becomes the first Latin American country to join the international research initiative on “prevention”. of the emergence of zoonoses ”(Prezode) that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, launched in January as part of the One Planet Summit.
“Expanding our arsenal of responses”
The Covid-19 epidemic has shed light on the links between the destruction of nature and the emergence of new diseases. To prevent new epidemics, the initiative called Prezode was set up, which brings together research institutes in France (INRAE, CIRAD, IRD, etc.), Asia, Africa, Latin America and universities.
This agreement “Will allow us to expand our arsenal of responses”, said Mexican Health Minister Jorge Alcocer.
An international laboratory, El Dorado, was created, made up of researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the French Institute for Research and Development (IRD). At the heart of their joint research: “The effect of the evolution of the habitat of animals such as rodents and insects and its impact on disease transmission”, specifies the Mexican health ministry.