HIV/AIDS is the biggest cause of hunger and poverty in Africa, said the United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

At the Global Health Council’s annual conference entitled “Our Future on Common Ground: Health and the Environment” held in May 2003, Stephen Lewis made the link between HIV/AIDS and food security.

According to Lewis, quoted in U.N. Wire (29 May 2003) HIV/AIDS affects the ability of Africa’s youth to work in the agricultural sector, resulting in a lack of crops, which in turn creates a food crisis in villages and cities.

“What happens is that AIDS is deepening hunger, and hunger is deepening AIDS”, said Lewis. “When the body has no food to consume, AIDS consumes the body”.

He also called for the world community to fight the problems posed by climate change. A rapidly changing climate has brought about more severe environmental disasters and agricultural problems, as well as worsened the spread of infectious diseases.

In order to tackle them, Lewis argued that there should be a greater awareness of the interlocking problems of weather, agriculture and HIV/AIDS. He also lamented the inadequate funding for HIV/AIDS programmes in Africa and the Caribbean to combat the disease in the region.

Meanwhile attempts in Africa are currently underway to promote healthy sex as a “cool and hip lifestyle” option. South Africa’s new, national prevention programme, “loveLife” is increasingly recognized as a brand name and has produced positive results in the sexual behaviour of youths, according to a news feature published in The Guardian (22 May 2003).

According to statistics, loveLife has encouraged more young South Africans to delay or abstain from sex, to use a condom, and to reduce their number of sexual partners. The infection rate for young people has fallen over the past three years.

In Africa, more than 8,000 die from HIV/AIDS each day. South Africa has the highest number of HIV-infected people (5 million) in the world. The problem is exacerbated primarily by indiscriminate sexual behaviour of teenagers.
(Sources: U.N. Wire, 29 May 2003 and The Guardian, 22 May 2003)