Pesticides safety
Recent capacity-building activities
WHO/IPCS, jointly with PAHO, organized a regional meeting on Women’s Health and Exposure to Chemicals in Nicaragua. The meeting was aimed at professionals from the health, environment, agriculture, social and research sectors in Nicaragua and surrounding countries. The objectives of the meeting were to raise awareness on exposure to chemicals, especially pesticides, throughout women’s life-cycle and on specific effects on women’s health.
In 2003, WHO/IPCS organized, jointly with the Tanzanian Tropical Pesticides Research Institute, a regional training course on pesticides in Tanzania. The training course was targeted at health and safety personnel in workplaces dealing with pesticides, including state officials with health and safety responsibilities, primary care occupational health practitioners, policy makers, managers in occupational and environmental health programs in SADC (Southern African Development Community). Fifteen participants from Kenya, Mozambique, Sudan, South Africa and Tanzania attended the course. The objective of the course was to provide participants with an understanding of the most important strategies available for the mitigation of pesticide-related morbidity and mortality.
The University of Michigan Fogarty International Centre and the University of Cape Town have become collaborating institutions to assist the further development of environmental and occupational health infrastructure and human resources in Southern Africa, with a particular emphasis on improving research training and capacities on pesticides.