Steering and Dialogue Committee (COD)
The Steering and Dialogue Committee (COD) is one of Santé publique France’s four governing bodies. This committee, which is dedicated to fostering openness and dialogue with civil society, provides the agency with recommendations on its work, in accordance with the four missions entrusted to it.
Why an Advisory and Dialogue Committee?
Since its inception, Santé publique France has been committed to a policy of openness and dialogue with society, aimed at:
Listen to all stakeholders in its environment to better anticipate, understand, and address their needs and expectations;
Adjust its strategy and programmatic priorities accordingly;
Take these expectations into account in the execution of its missions through its programs and projects (with particular attention to matters covered by the charter on health expertise);
Align its actions with the evolving dynamics of its environment and reduce the risk of overlooking or underestimating stakeholders’ specific concerns or knowledge regarding public health and the agency (risk management);
Be capable of gathering, particularly through hearings, the data and information held by stakeholders in the context of producing opinions and recommendations (see Charter of Expertise).
This is why the preliminary report proposed creating a new committee called the “Steering and Dialogue Committee (COD),” following the deliberations conducted by the InVS Ethics and Professional Conduct Committee (2012–2016).
This new body has thus become the agency’s fourth governance body, alongside the Board of Directors, the Scientific Council, and the Ethics and Professional Conduct Committee.
As defined in Order No. 2016-462 of April 14, 2016, establishing Santé publique France (Art. L. 1413-11), a “Steering and Dialogue Committee” is referred to in Article R. 1413-26.
The missions of the “Steering and Dialogue Committee” (COD) are specified in Decree No. 2016-523 of April 27, 2016:
Contribute to the quality and relevance of the agency’s actions by providing its perspective on current and future public health issues and the societal questions they raise;
Propose priorities within the agency’s areas of activity and guidelines for its annual work program;
Contribute to improving the Agency’s communication methods, particularly during public health crises within the framework of guidelines defined by the Ministry of Health, and the conditions for disseminating public health knowledge to various segments of the population;
Enable the agency to contribute to public debates on public health issues, particularly by presenting available scientific knowledge and, where appropriate, the context of scientific uncertainty within which health decisions must be made.
Other bodies promoting public engagement in the health sector
The National Health Commission (CNS)
The Group of Patient Associations (GRAM) / INSERM
The Health Democracy Committee / InCA
The Research Steering Committee (COR) / IRSN
1 Art. R. 1413-26 of April 27, 2016, regarding the creation of the National Public Health Agency.
According to Article R.1413-25 of the decree, the Committee shall have no fewer than 10 and no more than 20 members. The number of members shall be determined within these limits by the Board of Directors. The duties of a COD member are incompatible with membership in any other body of the agency or any contractual relationship with it, and are subject to all ethical obligations applicable to the agency.
Members are appointed for a term of 4 years, renewable once, by decision of the Chair of the Board of Directors following approval of the list of members by the Board of Directors, from among individuals recognized for their knowledge and experience in the Agency’s areas of competence, and after review of their conflicts of interest, as defined in the provisions of Article L.1451-1 (Art. R.1413-25). The participation of members is intended to serve the public interest.
Candidates were selected following a call for applications. Members were recruited on the basis of their personal merits, based on their skills and overall experience.
2026–2029 Term of the Steering and Dialogue Committee
In December 2025, the agency’s Board of Directors appointed the twenty members of the Steering and Dialogue Committee for the 2026–2029 term following a call for applications. Seven of them had already served during the previous term, following a call for applications.
The members of the COD were selected for their diverse experiences and skills: knowledge of science-society and science-public policy relations, expertise in participatory approaches and consultation, knowledge of local regions and their populations, understanding of citizens’ perceptions of health risks, analysis of controversies, experience in prevention, mediation, and community health...
The diversity of profiles represented on the committee (local elected officials, healthcare professionals, medical-social sector representatives, experts in participation and controversy, health mediators, and representatives of civil society organizations) will enable the committee to provide a multifaceted perspective on the agency’s program decisions and its methods of engaging with society.
Members (2026–2029)
Muriel ANDRIEU-SEMMEL, Delphine BENDA, Mathilde CARRARA, Murièle CONORT, Mathilde DESSAUX-LECOMPTE, Éric DOURIEZ, Jean-Marc FRANCO, Véronique GARNIER, Cédric KEMPF, Fabien MAGUIN, Céline MANSOUR, Audrey RICHARD-FERROUDJI, Phillipe ROBERT, Thomas ROUX, David SIMARD, Inès TARTARIN, Jean-Pierre THIERRY, Sophie VILLATTES, Éric VINDIMIAN, Ann-Gaëlle WERNER-BERNARD
Members (2024–2025)
Charline BARGHANE, Pierre BENOIT, Mathilde CARRARA, Mathilde DESSAUX, Blandine ESQUERRE, Pierrik FOSTIER, Mathieu GURI, Maxime HUERRE, Cédric KEMPF, Céline MANSOUR, Guénaël RODIER, Patricia ROGGY, Thomas ROUX, Marie-Pierre SAMITIER, Benoît SAUGERON, Sophie VILLATTES, Eric VINDIMIAN.
See biographies (2025)
Members (March 2023)
Charline BARGHANE, Pierre BENOIT, Charlotte BERTHAUT, Mathilde CARRARA, Mathilde DESSAUX, Blandine ESQUERRE, Pierrik FOSTIER, Xavier GOCKO, Mathieu GURI, Maxime HUERRE, Cédric KEMPF, Céline MANSOUR, Solange MENIVAL, Guénaël RODIER, Patricia ROGGY, Thomas ROUX, Marie-Pierre SAMITIER, Benoît SAUGERON, Sophie VILLATTES, Eric VINDIMIAN.
Members (July 2022)
Charline BARGHANE, Pierre BENOIT, Annabel DESGREES DU LOU, Mathilde DESSAUX, Blandine ESQUERRE, Pierrik FOSTIER, Solange MENIVAL, Guenaël RODIER, Marie-Pierre SAMITIER, Benoît SAUGERON, Eric VINDIMIAN.
Members (November 2021)
Charline BARGHANE, Pierre BENOIT, Annabel DESGREES DU LOU, Mathilde DESSAUX, Blandine ESQUERRE, Pierrik FOSTIER, Stéphane KORSIA, Thomas LAURENCEAU, Maud LEGUISTIN, Solange MENIVAL, Nathan PEIFFER-SMADJA, Guenaël RODIER, Marie-Pierre SAMITIER, Benoît SAUGERON, Eric VINDIMIAN.
Members (November 2020)
Charline BARGHANE, Pierre BENOIT, Marie-Hélène DE CAMPO, Annabel DESGREES DU LOU, Mathilde DESSAUX, Blandine ESQUERRE, Pierrik FOSTIER, Solange MENIVAL, Nathan PEIFFER-SMADJA, Guenaël RODIER, Marie-Pierre SAMITIER, Benoît SAUGERON, Eric VINDIMIAN.
See the Board of Directors’ resolution regarding the appointment of the COD
See the biographies (2020–2024)
2016-2020 Term of the COD
The Board of Directors appointed the members of the COD by Resolution No. 2016-20 at its meeting on December 14, 2016. Twenty candidates were appointed in 2017.
Members:
Vincent Alberti, Bernard Basset, Ségolène Baelde, Danielle Cousein Hiebel, Stéphane Delaunay, Stéphane Desmichelle, Blandine Esquerre, Pierrik Fostier, Caroline Génaux, Nathalie Gelbert Baudino, Angelika Gross, Thomas Laurenceau, Nadine Lebon Salles, Lénaïk Porrot, Gilles Laurent Rayssac, Marie-Pierre Samitier, Didier Seyler, Françoise Tenenbaum, Dominique Wiart.
Learn more:
Governance of Santé publique France: appointment and election of the chairs of three bodies and an ethics officer (press release dated May 16, 2017)
Term of Office 2025–2028
COD Plenary Sessions
2025: January 29, 2025
Term of Office 2021–2024
COD Plenary Sessions
2024: January 18, 2024 | March 20, 2024 | June 4, 2024 | October 17, 2024 | November 14, 2024
2023: March 9, 2023 | June 22, 2023
2022: April 14, 2022 | October 13, 2022 | December 15, 2022
2021: December 9, 2021 | November 4, 2021 | March 17, 2021 | June 1, 2021 | July 1, 2021 | September 16, 2021
2016–2020 Term
COD Plenary Sessions
2020: February 3, 2020 | March 31, 2020 | April 30, 2020 | May 29, 2020 | June 29, 2020 | July 22, 2020 | September 17, 2020 | October 14, 2020 | December 10, 2020
2019: February 11, 2019 | April 2, 2019 | October 4, 2019 | December 4, 2019
2018: February 12, 2018 | April 3, 2018 | June 1, 2018 | October 4, 2018 | November 28, 2018
2017: January 27, 2017 | March 28, 2017 | June 1, 2017 | October 6, 2017 | November 13, 2017
COD Participation in Events
COD’s participation in the Rencontres de Santé publique France
2017: workshop “Consultation with stakeholders: a resource for public health?”
2018: Plenary session “Participatory Approaches in Public Health”
Participation of the COD President in a roundtable discussion marking the 20th anniversary of the PSAS (Public Health France’s Air and Health Surveillance Program)
Meeting with the Scientific Council of Santé publique France in June 2018.
2020–2025 Term
Each year, the COD prepares an activity report, which is presented by its president to the Board of Directors.
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