The Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) will hold a workshop, Engaging the Health and Nutrition Sectors in Aflatoxin 
Control in Africa, in collaboration with the Amref Health Africa, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) – International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
The workshop is scheduled for 23-24 March 2016 at African Union Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The meeting will be the first of its kind in Africa to focus solely on the adverse impacts aflatoxins have on health and nutrition. Approximately 80 stakeholders from the health and nutrition sectors will meet, along with representatives from other sectors because of the the need for cross-sectoral engagement and multi-stakeholder partnerships. This engagement will help to identify synergies, foster and reinforce multi-sectoral linkages on the control of aflatoxins.
The meeting objectives are to:
- Update participants on the burden and current situation of health and nutritional effects due to aflatoxin exposures at global, regional and country levels.
- Inform participants of the role of nutrition in health-based aflatoxin research.
- Catalogue the various interventions targeting human and animal health as well as nutrition initiatives and actors in countries.
- Create a platform (proposed as “Africa Aflatoxin Health and Nutrition Forum”) that would link actors across the three focal sectors (with special emphasis on health and nutrition) of the African economy impacted by aflatoxins to crusade against this deadly fungal poison.
- Identify gaps (especially as related to the nutrition sub-component) on current responses in line with the health component of the PACA strategy.
- Develop an operational plan to address the gaps and/or implement the health and nutrition component of the PACA strategy.
Due to the specific focus of the workshop, targeted participants will be invited to attend; however, the PACA Secretariat has developed a waiting list for participants who express interest to attend. Those people should notify PACA by Thursday, 18 February 2016 of their interest in attending the workshop.