The fungus is capable of attacking crops during production, harvest, storage and even during processing and is now recognised as one of the biggest challenges to food and nutrition security, health and trade across the African continent.
It is estimated that more than 5 billion people in developing countries worldwide are chronically exposed to aflatoxins; the effects to this exposure includes liver cirrhosis, intestinal dysfunction, immune suppression and increased susceptibility to some infectious diseases including HIV-AIDS, and maternal and child health problems such as anemia, malnutrition, stunting, wasting.
Given the plight, stakeholders have convened a workshop themed “Engaging the Health and Nutrition Sectors in Aflatoxin Control in Africa.”
This be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia next month (March) the workshop is organised by the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA) in collaboration with the African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref) and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
The two day event is expected to bring together experts, stakeholders and partners working on aflatoxins especially in the health and nutrition sectors across Africa and beyond.
According to researchers in animals, aflatoxins reduce productivity of healthy livestock through ingestion of contaminated feed. Once ingested, the fungus causes a decrease in production of milk and eggs. It also leaves toxic residues in dairy, meat and poultry products and causes serious illness in almost all animals.
Given the extent of the threat, increasingly partners are recognizing the need to address aflatoxins holistically.
Ongoing efforts in various countries across the continent are fragmented involving single or multi-sectorial partnerships on aflatoxin surveillance and risk assessment.
Exposure biomonitoring, health advocacy, awareness, and other targeted nutritional and health risk interventions.
Major gaps have been identified in research on the impact of aflatoxins on health, in particular the association of the immune suppression and the burden of communicable disease, thus leading to an underestimated impact of aflatoxin exposure on health in Africa.
Furthermore, policies and guidelines targeting aflatoxin health risks are deficient in most countries on the continent and no clear established synergy of the nutrition and health sectors as relates aflatoxin mitigation.
It is advised that the health sector coordinate and maximize discussions on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the context of Non-Communicable Diseases and Nutrition to facilitate control of aflatoxin health risks.
Cognizant of this, PACA-AUC in conjunction with African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), 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) are working to foster multi-sectorial linkages on the control of aflatoxins in Africa with the health and nutrition sectors taking the lead.
The way forward
It s hoped that the planned workshop will chart a way forward in developing a continental health and nutrition aflatoxin action plan/road map with the following objective in mind:
• Fostering and reinforcing multi-sectorial engagements for aflatoxin control against health and nutritional hazards in Africa
• Update participants on the burden and the current situation of health and nutritional effects due to aflatoxin exposures at global, regional and country levels.
• Inform participants of the distinct 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) to link African economies impacted by aflatoxins to effectively crusade against the deadly fungal “poison”
• Identifying gaps (especially as related to the nutrition sub-component) on current responses in line with the health component of the PACA strategy
• Developing an operational plan to address the gaps and or implement the health and nutrition component of the PACA strategy
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