ZikaPLAN: 25 Research Organisations to Fight Zika Virus

ZikaPLAN: Swiss TPH Unites with 25 Research Organizations to Fight Zika Virus and Build Long-term Outbreak Response Capacity in Latin America. Swiss TPH is among the 25 leading research and public health organisations from Latin America, North America, Africa, Asia, and Europe gathered in Recife for the launch of ZikaPLAN (Zika Preparedness Latin American Network). This global initiative, created in response to a Horizon 2020 funding call by the European Commission's Directorate-General Research and Innovation, has been formed to address the Zika virus outbreak and the many research and public health challenges it poses. The initiative takes a comprehensive approach to tackle the Zika threat by: addressing the knowledge gaps and needs in the current Zika outbreak to better understand the disease, prevent its spread and educate the affected populations, building a sustainable response capacity in Latin America for Zika and other emerging infectious diseases (EID). ZikaPLAN will work closely with two other European Union-funded consortia , ZIKAction and ZikAlliance, to establish a Latin American and Caribbean network. This network will address the broader issue of building local capacity in Latin America to prepare for and rapidly launch a large-scale research response to emerging infectious disease threats. ZikaPLAN will contribute to developing an inter-epidemic research plan, policy recommendations, training, research networks and dissemination strategies that are designed to permanently strengthen local capacities, beyond the four years of the project.