Organized by HADEA (the Health and Digital Executive Agency), the objective of the meeting, which was attended by the BE READY coordinator, WP6 leader and a representative of WP5, was to trigger cooperation and networking among projects working on similar issues. Representatives from HADEA, as well as from the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation, DG Santé, HERA) and the ECDC, were present, making the event a fruitful occasion for discussion and mutual knowledge.

BE READY officially started on June 1st, 2022. On September 19th, the BE READY project launched publicly its activities in Paris, France.

BE READY stands for “Building a European strategic Research and Innovation Area in Direct Synergy with EU and International Initiatives for Pandemic Preparedness” and is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) funded with 2 million euros by the European Commission.

Since the early 1900s, there have been at least eleven serious viral outbreaks, caused by pandemic pathogens which span five virus families. Examples are Monkeypox virus, Ebola and the resurgence of polio. Epidemics can also be vector-borne, e.g. Zika or Chikungunya. In addition, many other new viruses have been emerging in recent decades driven by population growth, climate change, human behaviour, increased zoonotic transmission from animals and habitat loss.