Rising to the challenge

Reduce intolerance, discrimination and social exclusion Southern Africa: HIV/AIDS breeds food crisis, food crisis breeds HIV/AIDS Africa remains the worst affected region of the world, with nearly 30 million people living with HIV and AIDS. 39 of the 52 hardest hit Countries (with more than 1 percent prevalence rate) are in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that more than 14 million people are at risk of starvation in the six Southern African countries hardest hit by food shortages: Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In addition, 15 million people in Southern Africa are living with HIV/AIDS. This is no coincidence: The two are linked. It is clear that there is a deadly interplay between the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the food crisis. Entire communities are losing their ability to cope with the food crisis, making it worse. Millions of agricultural workers have died from HIV/AIDS, millions more are too ill to work the fields. Women especially, who bear responsibility for much of the farming, are either too weak from the virus or too busy caring for sick family members to tend to crops. What began as a food shortage has rapidly turned into a crisis. Equally, the food crisis is worsening the HIV/AIDS problem. Less food is being produced, prices are going up and family incomes to purchase food are dropping. Many women and girls are turning to other forms of labour, including sex work, to earn money, thus increasing the risk of HIV infection. Good nutrition is a crucial factor in staying healthy. When food is not available or there is not enough money to buy it, opportunistic diseases, among them TB, can accelerate the development of AIDS in people living with HIV. The Red Cross Red Crescent was amongst the first organizations to recognise the link between the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the food crisis sweeping Southern Africa. Food packages have been provided to many living with HIV/AIDS through Red Cross home-based care programmes in several countries, and an International Federation office has been established in Johannesburg, South Africa, to coordinate a response to the combination of food crisis and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. More information: http://www.ifrc.org/hivaids/ Year: 2005 Duration: 9 minutes 13 seconds