HIV/AIDS pandemic and food shortages connected and must be addressed together

The HIV/AIDS pandemic and food shortages are connected and must be addressed together, according to panelists at a discussion on Monday at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., CQ HealthBeat reports.

A lack of food spurs people to migrate in search of food, which in turn leads to an increase in HIV transmission by "expanding the sexual network," Suneetha Kadiyala, a scientist at the International Food Policy Research Institute who was on the panel, said.

In addition, a home with at least one HIV-positive person living in it has a reduced capacity to produce or buy food and is more at risk of food insecurity, CQ HealthBeat reports.

HIV-positive people who are malnourished also are more vulnerable to other infections, and antiretroviral treatment might not be effective for them, according to CQ HealthBeat (Blinkhorn, CQ HealthBeat, 10/16).