Welcome to the Website of AFASSA
 

AFASSA is an acronym for Africa Asia and South America and stands for a group that co-ordinates activities of several networks involved in natural products research in the three continents of Africa, Asia and South America. AFASSA was founded at the Intercontinental Symposium on Natural Products Research in Montevideo in December, 1999 under the chairmanship of Dr Federico Dajas of Clemente Estable Institute, Montevideo University, Uruguay.

Why AFASSA?

Establishing a coordinating body such as AFASSA was felt necessary because of the following main considerations: 

Most collaborations on multi-disciplinary natural products research are centered on a South-North basis and rarely on South-South links:

• There are advanced natural products research laboratories in the South that could provide services in Chemistry and Biology to laboratories in the region,
• The expertise from the three continents of Africa, Asia and South America, if mobilized properly could not only contribute to but also provide direction to the development of research initiatives in the South in the area of natural products,
• South-South collaborations need to be encouraged, since they could provide better solutions to research problems faced by countries in the South and therefore, South-South collaborations need to be encouraged,
• Hence, a coordinating group focusing on South-South collaboration would be in a better position to collaborate if there is a coordinating group focussing on South-South collaboration.

 Objectives
 

• To promote collaborative multidisciplinary research in natural products in countries of the South.
• To build capacity to deal with South-specific problems in health, agriculture and the sustainable use of biological resources by sharing expertise and experience in the field available in the three continents.
• To influence the future direction of research and education in natural products sciences in countries of the South.

 Strategies

• Sharing the available resources of advanced laboratories in the South
• Enhancing overall capacity for Research and Development through synergism generated by the promotion of South-South collaboration.
• Facilitating training of young scientists

     For more information please contact AFASSA Chairman:

Mohammed Mosihuzzaman (Prof.)
Chairman AFASSA
Department of Chemistry, University of Dhaka
Dhaka- 1000. BANGLADESH
Phone : +880 2  9670810, Fax : +880 2 8615583
Email: zamanmm@bangla.net  / mmosihuzzaman@yahoo.com

Updated November 6, 2005