September 25, 2009

HIV/AIDS, Undernutrition and Food Insecurity

Deficits in nutrition are major contributing factors to the unacceptably high rates of HIV disease and death in developing countries, according to a comprehensive review published in the October 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases. These findings, the authors write in their article that can be downloaded for free, “demand special focused efforts to ensure that effective solutions are devised and implemented.”

Food insecurity, defined as a persistent lack of access to adequate food in needed quantity and quality; undernutrition, including deficiencies in micronutrients (e.g., vitamins and minerals) as well as macronutrients (e.g., essential fats and proteins); and HIV/AIDS overlap and have additive effects, writes Louise Ivers, MD, of Harvard Medical School and her colleagues. According to sources, more than 800 million people worldwide are chronically undernourished, and more than 33 million of them are living with HIV.

Combating undernutrition and HIV/AIDS are two of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015—international targets that form a blueprint for galvanizing priorities for the world’s poor. But as Ivers and her colleagues suggest, the complex interaction between HIV infection and nutrition seriously threatens the achievement of these goals.

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