WFP warns drugs and food must go hand in hand in fight against Aids. (Pressrelease, 28 November, original version in English)
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes the launch on World AIDS Day (1 December) of a campaign by the World Health Organization to provide anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to three million people by 2005, and stresses that drugs can only be effective if combined with good nutrition.
The WHO campaign target – “3 by 5” – means ten times the number
of people now getting ARVs will have access to them by 2005, a huge achievement, made more attainable by the World Trade Organizations announcement in August of a new deal on drug patents to give poor countries the right to import generic drugs.
– At last we are seeing a willingness by the world community to confront AIDS head on, said James Morris, Executive Director of WFP, which recently became a co-sponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
– But it is critical to bear in mind that successful treatment with ARVs also depends on safe water and a diet rich in energy, protein and micronutrients. And this is a luxury most people living with HIV in the developing world simply do not have, added he.
With good nutrition, people with HIV are better able to fight opportunistic infections, such as tuberculosis, which afflicts one in three people infected with AIDS. WFP has long experience in providing food aid to tuberculosis patients, making it easier for them to continue and complete their medical treatment.
There are many other examples of how WFP food assistance is helping prolong the lives of people with AIDS. In sub-Saharan Africa, where there are some 11 million children orphaned by AIDS, WFP is working with governments to integrate HIV/AIDS prevention into schoolfeeding programmes.
Food aid can help relieve children of their increasing responsibilities as breadwinners and caregivers, thus enabling them to return to school or take up vocational training.. It also helps HIV-positive parents live longer and continue to provide and care for their families.
Residing in a slum in Kampala, Uganda, Annet Nandase, a 30 year old widow, living with HIV is a mother of five children with seven orphans in her care. Now receiving WFP food aid, she can work again and send two children to school: – Before I could not afford to educate any of them, because we had to eat, she says.
For WFP, which will deliver food aid to some 110 million people globally this year, it is clear that food is the front line of defence against AIDS.
– Without food aid, the poorest people with HIV will always have to choose between access to medical treatment and their next meal even here drugs may be free, Morris said. – We are talking about whether to spend money on a bus fare to the nearest clinic or buy basic foodstuffs. No one should have to make that choice, added he.
AIDS does not simply kill people. It destroys communities and entire economies. Responding to such a diverse threat requires integrated action.
ARVs are crucial to prolong lives, but winning the war against the pandemic demands a combination of medicine, food and clean water, as well as a revolution in thinking with regard to this preventable and treatable disease.
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WFP is the worlds largest humanitarian agency. In 2002 WFP fed 72 million people in 82 countries including most of the worlds refugees and internally displaced people.
WFP Global School Feeding Campaign: As the largest provider of nutritious meals to poor school children, WFP has launched a global campaign aimed at ensuring the worlds 300 million undernourished children are educated.
For more information please contact: Brenda Barton, Deputy Director of Communications, WFP/Rome, Tel.(00 39) 06 65 13 26 02. Caroline Hurford, Public Information, WFP/Rome, Tel. (00 39) 06 65 13 23 30
