Taking 'PAAT' in Trypansomiasis control
Human and livestock populations continue to be at risk from trypanosomiasis in many parts of Africa. To overcome this problem, a new initiative - the 'Programme Against African Trypanosomiasis' (PAAT) - has been launched to "develop effective control of trypanosomiasis". The PAAT concept was first proposed in 1993 based on the recognised need for collaboration and participation at all levels, from farmers through to the international community. As a result of this initial proposal, FAO (United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation), IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), OAU/IBAR (Inter-African Bureau of Animal Resources) and WHO (World Health Organisation), have agreed to join forces in a concerted and determined international effort to curb trypanosomiasis in Africa.
Brian Hursey, Senior Officer for Trypanosomiasis in the Animal
Production and Health Division of FAO, explains that "PAAT aims
to develop a co-ordinated programme in order to address the problems
of tsetse and trypanosomiasis control in a more sustained way."
It is hoped that a common strategy for control will be adopted
involving the choice of strategic tools,
diagnostic techniques, treatment methods and follow-up procedures, for
each disease, throughout the affected areas.
The situation is complex: there are five main species of trypanosomiasis and over twenty species of tsetse (vectors which transmit the trypanosome parastites), distributed across different regions of sub-Saharan Africa. This complexity coupled with the sheer size of the problem make it impossible to consider achieving effective control simultaneously across the whole of the continent, even with the new collaborative approach. So, the emphasis of PAAT is to identify priority areas for control, based on where trypanosomiasis has the greatest impact on human health and farming and where the potential for improving agricultural output is greatest. But, as Dr Hursey says, "Although the main effort is focusing on alleviating the problem in priority areas, this does not mean that other farmers will be neglected." He continues by stressing that, "The advice and experience, which will result from the development of integrated control techniques, will be disseminated to all farmers for their information and use against tsetse and trypanosomiasis."
The resulting losses from trypanosomiasis in cultivation and food production may be as high as 50%. It is estimated that twice as much land could be cultivated if draught animals were not affected by the disease, that unaffected dairy cattle could produce almost 30% more milk and that the numbers of cattle that farmers could keep, in the absence of the disease, would also increase. Although the risk of trypanosomiasis is reduced where tsetse habitats are being cleared of vegetation, elsewhere the risk is increasing as humans and livestock seek land in tsetse infested regions.
It is hoped that PAAT will achieve success where other efforts have failed by striking a realistic balance between what is needed and what is realistically attainable with the resources available for tsetse and trypanosomiasis control. By focusing on priority areas, livestock production, within sustainable farming systems, could be improved considerably.
http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/agricult/aga/agah/pd/vector.htm
