PAAT was officially established in November 1997 by the 29th Session of the FAO Conference (Resolution 5/97).

The PAAT structure comprises the Secretariat, the Programme Committee and the Panel of PAAT Advisory Group (PAG) Coordinators, a Statutory Body of FAO.

PAAT secretariat includes representatives of the mandated international organizations (AU, FAO, IAEA, WHO). The secretariat coordinates the implementation of programme activities and interaction between the Programme Committee, Advisory Groups Coordinators and stakeholders. The secretariat’s focal point is based at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, and collects, analyses and disseminates information concerning tsetse and Trypanosomosis and related developments.

The Programme Committee is composed of representatives of donor and international research organizations, affected countries, senior technical advisors, the secretariat staff and the PAAT chairman. The Chairman has the role of providing programme direction, based on information provided by technical advisory modules.

The Panel of PAAT Advisory Group (PAG) Coordinators provides information on specific fields of expertise and research development, technical and institutional proposals for consideration by the PAAT Committee. The Panel, in turn, support from the FAO Liaison Officers, a field based country representative network.