Blantyre, Malawi (PANA) - The food
shortage being experienced in the six southern African countries is directly
and indirectly exacerbating the HIV/AIDS prevalence in the area, a recent
Save the Children UK survey said.
The survey noted that the epidemic was
also increasing the hunger crisis by hitting the productive age group most
in Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Save the Children official Cindy Holleman said that the report pointed out that while the effects of the food shortage on people infected by HIV/AIDS varied by country in the rural and urban areas, the most notable of those affected were poor households with little or no money at all to buy their basic needs like food.
The percentages of adult sero-prevalence in countries hit by food shortage closely tallied with the food shortfall in their respective countries, the survey said.
Malawi, with 20 percent of adult sero-prevalence, has a food shortfall of 28 percent; Lesotho's 24 percent sero-prevalence, has 20 percent food shortfall; Swaziland's 26 percent sero- prevalence, has 21 percent food shortfall; Zambia's 20 percent sero-prevalence, has 21 percent food shortfall; Zimbabwe's 25 percent sero-prevalence, has 46 percent food shortfall; and Mozambique's 13 percent sero-prevalence, has three percent food shortfall.
Holleman said the study has shown that food insecurity is aggravating the HIV/AIDS crisis since people are resorting to high-risk behaviour like earning income through prostitution or migration.
Poor nutrition, she added, increased the speed of HIV transmission into full-blown AIDS.
She said HIV/AIDS was increasing the food insecurity in the region by claiming lives of productive people or taking much of their time as they care for the AIDS victims in the home.
The situation greatly affected the household and the national economy as a whole and is followed by abject poverty.
"(Through labour substitution) school children are likely to be pulled out of school during the 2002 to 2003 growing season and less labour will lead to less production, less income and higher food insecurity next season," she warned.
HIV/AIDS has lead many households into abject poverty through the sale of assets to finance food and health needs since the person who used to support the family has become a victim of the disease.
Another official from the Save the Children, Humphrey Shumba, said that asset stripping led to long term adverse effects on the family because it increased vulnerability to a further crisis.
He said the survey indicated that providing food aid as quickly as possible to the needy could reduce the effects of food shortage and HIV/AIDS.
He pointed out, however, that food alone could not solve the problem but some programmes like the promotion of diversification of crops, access to micro-finance and improved access to agriculture inputs.
