Four Ways to Improve the Fight Against AIDS
"Hunger can drive decent people to take terrible risks"
Walleligne Beriye
Entitled "The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR): Is It Fulfilling the Nutrition and Food Security Needs of People Living with HIV/AIDS?," the hearing was conducted with a full audience and broadcasted nationally on C-SPAN. Participating in the hearing was Project Concern’s own Walleligne Beriye, Country Director for our program in Ethiopia.
Walleligne delivered powerful testimony, describing his personal experiences working to help families struggling with HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia. Adults that are HIV positive, Walleligne explained, can require up to 30% more food than a healthy individual. Moreover, children suffering from this disease might need twice as much food as a healthy child. HIV positive adults who are malnourished when they begin receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) are six times more likely to die after received treatment than a person receiving adequate nutrition. Thus, the effectiveness of ART is greatly diminished if the person is malnourished.
Working on the frontlines in Ethiopia, Walleligne has seen firsthand the effects of malnourishment on communities with HIV/AIDS. For example, women who are starving are more likely to engage in prostitution, further spreading the virus. Ensuring people suffering from HIV/AIDS have adequate access to food is of a key tool in preventing desperate and risky behavior.
Walleligne suggested four ways to increase food security and thus improve drug-effectiveness in the fight against HIV/AIDS:
1. Expand food programs in schools and orphanages
2. Provide meals at centers where pregnant women go for counseling and testing; these women will most likely return again.
3. Expanding food programs at treatment centers.
4. Creating economic opportunities by supporting gardens, farms, and collective businesses owned by HIV positive individuals.
The continuous danger presented by the combination of HIV/AIDS and hunger is always present, it never sleeps or takes an extended vacation. Shortly after giving his testimony, Walleligne returned to Ethiopia to once again take his post on the frontlines of this ongoing struggle.
3 comments:
Please, I'm tired of hearing about the concerns of others living with AIDS.
We have AMERICANS LIVING WITH AIDS TOO!!!
We are falling through the cracks, and also don't have enough to survive.
Even with applying for aid from programs depending on the state you live in, you can be screwed real bad. I know first hand!!!
I went for food stamps and after all the hoop jumping I was only given $10 a month!!!! How am I to survive on that.
Before ya think, I only get $800 from SSI. My rent/utilities is $600...and no rental assistance.
So, after my copays for meds and doctors I'm lucky if I have $50 a month left for food. If it wasn't for family and friends I wouldn't be here.
So, I'm tired of hearing about AFRICA...I want to see help for AMERICANS. WHY AREN'T WE FIRST???
HELLO...DOES ANYONE HAVE ANSWERS?
Singlepozheart, your difficulty in getting the care you need is certainly a problem that needs to be addressed by our elected leaders. Unfortunately, your troubles are not unique and are shared by many other Americans living with HIV/AIDS.
Organizations like PCI play an important role in developing countries because many of those countries do not have governments that are equipped to provide basic services to their citizens. NGOs seek to fill the gap.
As Americans, our hope is that the United States, the wealthiest country in the world, would have the resources to properly care for people living with HIV/AIDS. In the U.S., we should look to our government to address this problem. Often times, people in developing countries do not have the option of asking their government for assistance.
There are, of course, congressional committees and subcommittees that address HIV/AIDS in the U.S. However, the House committee referred to in the initial posting was created specifically to address HIV/AIDS in Africa (House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Hearing on Africa and Global Health). As you well know, singlpozheart, our government needs to do more.
The attendance by committee members at the aforementioned meeting was disappointing. Sitting amidst of sea of empty chairs (I think you can watch this at c-span.org) were the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA), the only representatives to participate in this hearing. The reason for this, Rep. Payne explained, was due to the fact that the day before the hearing was a federal holiday (Columbus Day) and many of the other members needed extra time to return from their constituencies. It’s disheartening to see that the other nine members of the committee were slow in returning to Washington to address one of the most important topics of our time. If we want more resources for Americans suffering from HIV/AIDS, we must demand more commitment from our elected officials.
I just noticed you can see some of the committee hearing at PCI's website: http://www.projectconcern.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Project_Concern_video
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