10/06/2025 | Medicina S/A

https://medicinasa.com.br/prisme-franca-brasil/ 

The French-Brazilian collaboration has taken on a new dimension with the launch of the International Platform for Global Health Research (Prisme France-Brazil), an international consortium dedicated to research, bringing together key players from both countries. The initiative was launched during a France-Brazil cooperation seminar in Fortaleza (Ceará) with the signing of a declaration marking the start of work. On the Brazilian side, the Ministry of Health (MS), Fiocruz, the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI), and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) are participating in the consortium.

Prisme aims to strengthen Franco-Brazilian scientific leadership and collaborative research to respond to global health challenges. Its cooperation model proposes a multilateral approach capable of bringing together, in an alliance, institutions already engaged in scientific collaborations. Participating on behalf of France are the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm); the French National Agency for Research on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ANRS MIE); the Institut Pasteur; the Pasteur Institute of French Guiana; the Institute for Research and Development (IRD); and the French Embassy in Brazil.

Vice President of Global Health and International Relations (VPSGRI/Fiocruz), Lourdes Oliveira highlighted the Foundation's tradition of cooperation with French institutions that are part of the consortium: “These collaborations have been fundamental in promoting research, technological development, innovation, support for public health, and training professionals,” she commented. She also recalled the Pasteur Fiocruz Center for Immunology and Immunotherapy, at Fiocruz Ceará, which celebrated its first anniversary in May.

Oliveira represented Fiocruz President Mario Moreira at the launch of Prisme and emphasized the multilateral nature of the platform: “In the face of contemporary challenges that transcend borders and range from geopolitical disputes to climate change, Prisme emerges as a benchmark. This initiative aims to continuously seek solutions for building a more humane, sustainable, and less unequal world,” he said.

Secretary of Health and Environmental Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, Mariângela Simão highlighted at the ceremony the challenges common to Brazil and France, such as the consequences of climate change on health, bringing diseases, such as arboviruses, to regions that did not face them before. Given this, she celebrated Prisme as a path to solutions: “We already have a concrete, proactive agenda. Those who work in health are in a hurry; we need to solve our problems now. And that drives both countries," she pointed out.

Abdel Sifeddine, representative in Brazil of the French Research Institute for Development (IRD), highlighted the cooperation between the countries as a long relationship of trust and co-construction. “Today, the IRD aims to bring together all the disciplines we work on together in a transdisciplinary approach for the well-being of humans, nature, and everything around us. With institutions such as Fiocruz, we are aligned with Prisme’s objectives,” he said.

Scientific meeting celebrates cooperation between countries

Prisme was launched on the first day of the 31st France-Brazil Scientific and Technical Cooperation Seminar and the 9th Scientific Conference of the French National Agency for Research on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ANRS MIE) in Brazil, which runs until Friday in Fortaleza, Ceará. Fiocruz researchers are among the panelists at the meetings.

As part of the France-Brazil Season 2025, the events have the support of authorities from both countries and highlight projects carried out jointly by French and Brazilian teams, with an emphasis on infectious diseases, the promotion of young researchers, and the border areas between Brazil and French Guiana.

Fiocruz-France Cooperation

Among the recent milestones in cooperation between the countries, the visit of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to France in June 2025 stands out, when an agreement was signed between Fiocruz, the Institut Pasteur, and Sanofi for the production of vaccines.

There are also other examples of cooperation between the Foundation and French institutions. Among these partners are the Pasteur Institute, ANRS-MIE, Inserm, IRD, the Merieux Foundation and BioMerieux, the Universities of Sorbonne and Lille, the Pasteur Institute of French Guiana, the One Sustainable Health for All Foundation, as well as the private sector, such as Sanofi. (With information from Agência Fiocruz)