HIV/AIDS, nutrition and food security : what we can do - a synthesis of international guidance

Abstract

HIV and AIDS are having a devastating effect in Sub-Saharan Africa. Of the 10.8 million deaths estimated to have occurred in the year 2000, HIV caused over 20 percent of them (Jamison et al. 2006). The annual toll of AIDS deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to grow, despite progress in some countries. While mortality rates have been reduced through prevention interventions, counseling, testing, support, and treatment, the potential for nutrition to contribute to a decline in HIV- and AIDS-related morbidity and mortality has neither kept pace nor lived up to its potential. Since 2000 the World Bank has financed 34 HIV/AIDS projects, including five sub-regional projects, with commitments in excess of US$1.3 billion. The approach has been to provide assistance for prevention, care and support, treatment, and capacity building, with a large portion of the resources channeled through civil society organizations (with more than 50,000 such interventions). Additionally, through the Poverty Reduction Strategy process and debt forgiveness, resources are being mainstreamed to continue the fight against HIV and AIDS. As the Bank's program has evolved, and with increased knowledge about the importance of nutrition to effective responses to HIV and AIDS, the Bank has recognized the need to better understand how to integrate nutrition into programs for HIV and AIDS (and how to integrate considerations about HIV and AIDS into nutrition programs).