from: WFP Press Release    –  Roma, 27 November 2007  

 As communities gather to mark World AIDS Day , and governments take stock of the progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals , the World Food Programme is urging that more attention be paid to the fundamental connection between hunger and health, which lies at the heart of the pandemic.

Food is often cited by people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS as their greatest and most important need

Elizabeth Mataka, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa

Donor countries have invested billions of dollars into antiretroviral treatment (ART) and other medication to counter the growing impact of AIDS in developing countries.

But they may overlook the irony that people receiving life-saving drugs often lack food and clean water.

  Malnutrition and AIDS

As with any drug, antiretrovirals are more effective when people are adequately nourished. Food support can play an important role in ensuring that people who lack food benefit fully from their treatment.

“It is irresponsible to ignore the issue of hunger and malnutrition particularly in the battle against AIDS,” said WFP Deputy Executive Director Sheila Sisulu.

“Why should we write off the benefits of medical interventions simply because people are too undernourished to absorb and benefit from the drugs they desperately need?”

The multiple relationships between hunger and poor health are explored – with particular reference to HIV/AIDS – in a major report released today by WFP.

"Hidden hunger"

The World Hunger Series 2007- Hunger and Health states