Everyone knows that the AIDS pandemic has a long arch. But what is less appreciated is that it occurs in four distinct waves. The first is HIV infection, followed by a second wave of opportunistic infections such as TB. Several years later comes the third wave of full-blown AIDS, with staggering rates of illness and death. The last wave consists of devastation of families, communities, and even nations, as the cumulative impact of individual AIDS cases affects everyone.

Only a few countries have passed the peak of the first two waves. No nation has yet reached the crest of the third wave, and the fourth is just beginning for the majority of affected countries. This final wave will engulf nations throughout the world for decades.

To be effective in combating AIDS, there must be a sustained international response based on four foundation stones - prevention, care, treatment and mitigation. Food and nutrition play a critical role in all four.

Prevention: Nutritional status is a major factor affecting a person's risk of infection, including mother-to-child transmission.
Care: HIV-positive individuals who are well-nourished live longer.
Treatment: AIDS drugs - assuming they are available, accessible and affordable - need to be taken on a full stomach.
Mitigation: Families and communities who have lost their breadwinners need assistance to prevent massive increases in malnutrition due to poverty.

People affected by HIV/AIDS in developing nations often identify food as their top priority, even placing it above access to medication. Let us not forget this.

For more information, see: AIDS and Food Security, 2001-2002 IFPRI Annual Report essays:

AIDS: The New Challenge to Food Security Peter Piot and Per Pinstrup-Andersen Food Security as a Response to AIDS Stuart Gillespie and Lawrence Haddad

download the essays (PDF 407K)

or to set up an interview, please contact:

• Michael Rubinstein, 202/862.5670
  m.rubinstein@cgiar.org
• Michele Pietrowski, 202/862.5679
  m.pietrowski@cgiar.org