Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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AIDS and Hunger
AIDS is a significant cause of hunger. In societies affected by AIDS, famine is more deadly and difficult to combat. AIDS attacks the most productive age group, typically the men and women working in agricultural production.
Also See GPF's Pages on:
World Hunger | Health, Poverty and Development
Articles and Documents
2006 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
>Hunger and HIV: From Food Crisis to Integrated Care (December 2007)
This Action Against Hunger report illustrates the complex connections between widespread hunger and the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Malawi. Children suffering from HIV are often chronically undernourished and their recovery times are long. In response to this, field workers recognize the need to combine HIV treatment with improved programs for nutrition and social care.2006
Hungry Africans' Stark AIDS Dilemma (June 2, 2006)
This BBC article links the problem of AIDS to that of hunger. One must take anti-retroviral treatment with food, but many recipients of the treatment cannot afford to feed themselves. The immediacy of hunger prompts individuals to forgo treatment in favor of food. These decisions impact the manner in which health agencies should administer AIDS treatment.2004
AIDS Complicating Battle against Hunger, Says WFP Executive Director (May 11, 2004)
James Morris, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), has testified before the US Congress that AIDS exacerbates the world’s growing hunger problem. Morris explained to Congress members that food aid is critical to help people fight HIV/AIDS as good nutrition allows people to “fight off the infection, regain strength and live productively.”Voters Yearn To Stem Rising Hunger In the US and Around the World, New Report Finds (April 14, 2004)
Bread for the World’s 14th annual report on the state of world hunger, argues that more people in the US and poor countries are going to bed hungry each night due to a lack of leadership and political will to “stem the tide of this growing problem.” The organization suggests that an international agenda that is focused on reducing hunger must include sending girls to school, supplying families with mosquito nets to ward off malaria, and providing medicines to those afflicted with HIV/AIDS.AIDS Casts Grim Shadow Over Southern Africa Food Crisis (March 12, 2004)
In Africa, 80 percent of the population depends on small-scale subsistence agriculture for its food, yet HIV/AIDS is having a devastating impact on the continent’s food security. HIV/AIDS has already killed seven million farmers in southern Africa since 1985, and UNAIDS estimates that over the next 20 years, 16 million more farmers will die from the pandemic unless treatment access is greatly improved. (AlertNet)2003
AIDS, the Other Face of Hunger (December 2003)
Of the world's 40 million HIV/AIDS cases, 95 percent are in poor countries. This article argues that AIDS and poverty overlap “dangerously,” whereby AIDS reinforces hunger, and in turn, hunger and malnutrition intensify the effects of AIDS infection. (Action Against Hunger)UN to Boost Food Aid to Zimbabwe (December 12, 2003)
According to the World Food Programme, more than one third of Zimbabwe’s population urgently needs food aid. The country’s high AIDS rate and high farm worker unemployment worsen the effects of the harvest’s failure. (Reuters)Famine Chronic as AIDS Devastates Continent (April 13, 2003)
Relief agencies highlight the combination of poverty, war, corruption, the HIV epidemic, and the current food crisis, causing widespread devastation in Africa. UN officials call for a multilaterally coordinated campaign. (Los Angeles Times)Ending Hunger in Africa (March 26, 2003)
Suresh Babu of the International Food Policy Research Institute argues that helping small farmers in Africa, especially women, to raise their crop yields by just one percent could drastically improve food security and reduce poverty on the continent. Babu adds that initiatives targeting infrastructure and AIDS are also crucial for long-term development in Africa. (Inter Press Service)2002
What AIDS Means in a Famine (November 19, 2002)
“Just as HIV destroys the body's immune system, the epidemic of HIV and AIDS has disabled the body politic,” this New York Times article comments. The ravages of disease have eroded African communities’ traditional strategies to cope with long droughts, compounding the effects of famine.How AIDS Brings the Famine Nearer (November 15, 2002)
In southern Africa, the drought has hit countries with some of the highest AIDS rates in the world, crippling communities already at the brink of survival. (Christian Science Monitor)
