Put food at the heart of the fight against HIV and Aids or fail, warn leading aid agencies
By, Care International, May 25, 2007
Food has to be at the heart of the global fight against HIV and AIDS or we will fail to stop its spread, three leading aid agencies are warning today.
CARE International UK, Concern Worldwide (UK) and Overseas Development Institute (ODI) are challenging more than 25 of the world's leading international development organisations at a meeting in London today to put food first in their HIV and AIDS programmes.
People with HIV and AIDS need good food to survive. HIV positive adults need up to one third more food than healthy adults, and children with the disease can need 50 to 100 per cent more food than healthy children, according to the World Health Organisation.
Nearly 40 million people who live with HIV, and most live in poor countries - many are hungry and malnourished. The fight against HIV and AIDS and combating hunger are clearly inextricably linked. This link, however, is too often overlooked.
Good nutrition plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy immune system for people living with HIV.
Imaya Ephraim, CARE's HIV and AIDS advisor, said: "If people's immune systems are strengthened they live longer and are more likely to survive. It also delays the onset of AIDS," said. "Our experience shows that women and girls who have food are less vulnerable to HIV infection."
Mr Ephraim, who is opening the conference, continued: "Unless we address the issue of food in communities affected by HIV and AIDS, we are likely to see a greater number of infections and an increase in fatalities. Without putting food first, millions of people's lives at risk, and HIV will continue to spread at an alarming rate."
ODI Research Fellow, Fiona Samuels, says "it's pointless to think about Universal Access to treatment, prevention and care without also taking into account food security issues and wider livelihood and vulnerability issues."
For more information or to arrange an interview with Imaya or Fiona, please contact:
Rebecca Coutts-Buys, CARE International, 020 7934 9417, 079 5021 1700 or coutts-buys@careinternational.org
Anna Tublin, Overseas Development Institute, 0207 922 0419 or a.tublin@odi.org.uk or Kirsty Cockburn, 0207 922 0423 or k.cockburn@odi.org.uk
Sarah Molloy, Concern Worldwide (UK), 0207 863 3073, 077 7556 2647 or sarah.molloy@concern.net ABOUT CARE International:
CARE is a leading humanitarian organisation fighting global poverty. CARE works to prevent HIV and AIDS and to provide care, treatment and support to vulnerable communities impacted by the disease in 38 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. We run more than 150 programmes reaching 12 million people around the world to prevent HIV and help people live with the disease.
ABOUT Concern Worldwide (UK):
Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reducation of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of poverty in the world's poorest country. The fight against HIV&AIDS is central to our work and we support 24 HIV&AIDS programmes across 13 countries, benefiting 200,000 people directly and a further 2.1 million indirectly. Our work includes education and awareness-raising about the pandemic to help halt the spread of the disease, advocacy for improved treatment and increased rights for those infected and affected, and the provision of food and support programmes for the most vulnerable.
ABOUT ODI:
ODI is Britain's leading independent think-tank on international development and humanitarian issues. Its mission is to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in developing countries. Locking together high-quality applied research, practical policy advice and policy-focused dissemination and debate, ODI works with partners in the public and private sectors, in both developing and developed countries. Further details can be found on the ODI website (www.odi.org.uk).
Source: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/217440/118009601674.htm
Food has to be at the heart of the global fight against HIV and AIDS or we will fail to stop its spread, three leading aid agencies are warning today.
CARE International UK, Concern Worldwide (UK) and Overseas Development Institute (ODI) are challenging more than 25 of the world's leading international development organisations at a meeting in London today to put food first in their HIV and AIDS programmes.
People with HIV and AIDS need good food to survive. HIV positive adults need up to one third more food than healthy adults, and children with the disease can need 50 to 100 per cent more food than healthy children, according to the World Health Organisation.
Nearly 40 million people who live with HIV, and most live in poor countries - many are hungry and malnourished. The fight against HIV and AIDS and combating hunger are clearly inextricably linked. This link, however, is too often overlooked.
Good nutrition plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy immune system for people living with HIV.
Imaya Ephraim, CARE's HIV and AIDS advisor, said: "If people's immune systems are strengthened they live longer and are more likely to survive. It also delays the onset of AIDS," said. "Our experience shows that women and girls who have food are less vulnerable to HIV infection."
Mr Ephraim, who is opening the conference, continued: "Unless we address the issue of food in communities affected by HIV and AIDS, we are likely to see a greater number of infections and an increase in fatalities. Without putting food first, millions of people's lives at risk, and HIV will continue to spread at an alarming rate."
ODI Research Fellow, Fiona Samuels, says "it's pointless to think about Universal Access to treatment, prevention and care without also taking into account food security issues and wider livelihood and vulnerability issues."
For more information or to arrange an interview with Imaya or Fiona, please contact:
Rebecca Coutts-Buys, CARE International, 020 7934 9417, 079 5021 1700 or coutts-buys@careinternational.org
Anna Tublin, Overseas Development Institute, 0207 922 0419 or a.tublin@odi.org.uk or Kirsty Cockburn, 0207 922 0423 or k.cockburn@odi.org.uk
Sarah Molloy, Concern Worldwide (UK), 0207 863 3073, 077 7556 2647 or sarah.molloy@concern.net ABOUT CARE International:
CARE is a leading humanitarian organisation fighting global poverty. CARE works to prevent HIV and AIDS and to provide care, treatment and support to vulnerable communities impacted by the disease in 38 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. We run more than 150 programmes reaching 12 million people around the world to prevent HIV and help people live with the disease.
ABOUT Concern Worldwide (UK):
Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reducation of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of poverty in the world's poorest country. The fight against HIV&AIDS is central to our work and we support 24 HIV&AIDS programmes across 13 countries, benefiting 200,000 people directly and a further 2.1 million indirectly. Our work includes education and awareness-raising about the pandemic to help halt the spread of the disease, advocacy for improved treatment and increased rights for those infected and affected, and the provision of food and support programmes for the most vulnerable.
ABOUT ODI:
ODI is Britain's leading independent think-tank on international development and humanitarian issues. Its mission is to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in developing countries. Locking together high-quality applied research, practical policy advice and policy-focused dissemination and debate, ODI works with partners in the public and private sectors, in both developing and developed countries. Further details can be found on the ODI website (www.odi.org.uk).
Source: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/217440/118009601674.htm
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 11:08 am
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