Brazzaville, 2 September 2004 -- How can nutrition be better prioritized within health and other development sectors in Africa? What should countries do to improve their technical capacity for nutrition programmes, mobilize resources, and strengthen nutritional information systems? How can African countries be supported to attain food and nutritional security?

These are some of the questions to be considered at a round table to be organized on the sidelines of the fifty-fourth session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa scheduled for 30 August to 3 September 2004 in Brazzaville, Congo.

A paper, prepared by the WHO Regional Office for Africa, sets the scene. "The major nutritional problems besetting the African Region are protein energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency," says the paper, which also identifies some of the causes and consequences of high burden nutritional disorders in the region.

Among the causes of malnutrition in Africa, it says, are inadequate food; inadequate dietary intake; diseases; inadequate health services, water supply and sanitation; inappropriate national and child care practices; man-made and natural disasters, and the low priority given to nutrition interventions. Basic causes include inadequate resources and poor socioeconomic development.

The paper notes that in the 1980s, many countries in the African Region made steady progress in reducing levels of protein energy malnutrition despite the absence of economic growth. However, the situation began to deteriorate from the early 1990s due to factors such

as economic decline, a reduction in health sector investments, recurrent drought, armed conflicts, the displacement of populations, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Protein energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficits have resulted in a variety of health problems for millions of Africans. For example, vitamin A, iodine and iron deficiencies as well as anaemia, stunting, low birth weight and underweight occur in children or women according to their vulnerability to these conditions.

The paper warns that early childhood malnutrition is irreversible and intergenerational, and, if unchecked, can effect all the critical phases of the life cycle. It then suggests a framework of action to prevent and control protein energy and micronutrient deficiencies. The pillars of the proposed framework are international commitment to nutrition issues, greater government commitment, enhanced community participation and the use of available resources and initiatives. The Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) are initiatives to mainstream nutrition into the development agenda.

The round table discussion is expected to outline specific actions to be taken at community, national and regional levels; improve awareness of the current grave nutrition situation and how to address it; and define the role of the health sector in improving nutrition in Africa.

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