Save the Children Finds High Percentage of Ethiopian Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition Also Are HIV Postive

It's no secret that modern drugs have revolutionized the treatment of HIV and AIDS – probably saving close to 3 million lives since the mid 1990s.  What hasn't received as much public attention is the critical role nutrition plays for people living with HIV.  Research shows that good nutrition can delay the progression of the disease, enhance the body's ability to fight off infections, and optimize the effectiveness of antiretroviral drug treatment.

Iman, 5, likes eating the Swiss chard her mom, Saji grows at a Save the Children urban agriculture project in Adama, Ethiopia. By selling the vegetables, participants increase their economic security in a community heavily impacted by the high incidence of HIV and AIDS.

Unfortunately, HIV infection makes the body less able to absorb the very nutrients it needs to fight the disease.  On top of that, people living with HIV and AIDS often find their employment options limited, leading to less income and, too often, less food.

For children, whose development heavily depends on good nutrition, the combination of malnutrition and HIV can be especially devastating.

Save the Children is now building on its leading work combating childhood malnutrition by integrating its successful community-based approach into programs addressing HIV and AIDS. 

See Save the Children's statement marking World AIDS Day 2009.

As part of an innovative project in Ethiopia, Save the Children found that at least 37 percent of children in targeted urban areas receiving treatment for severe acute malnutrition were also HIV positive.  When compared to the overall infection rate of 2 percent in Ethiopia, it's clear that far too many children are battling two major health crises at the same time.  But thanks to an integrated approach, more children are now receiving HIV treatment while getting the good nutrition they need to best fight the disease.

Save the Children is now preparing to greatly expand its HIV and nutrition work in Ethiopia to children and adults across the country under the auspices of a program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development ( USAID) called  "Food by Prescription."  

In order to optimize the impact of the nutritional support, Save the Children will also establish referral systems to ensure that project beneficiaries can access a range of services and opportunities including TB treatment and community-level interventions, such as home-based care and psycho-social support.

A strong focus of the overall effort will be to foster economic opportunities; for example, beneficiaries and their family members can be referred to programs, such as urban gardening schemes, and town-level efforts can be stimulated towards getting people living with HIV/AIDS into paid employment and school attendance.    

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Last Updated December 1, 2009