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Yesterday, Congressman Donald M. Payne, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, convened the hearing “PEPFAR: Is It Fulfilling the Nutrition and Food Security Needs of People Living with HIV/AIDS?” to question whether the US is providing adequate nutritional support to bolster its global AIDS program. PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief, is a $15 billion initiative aimed at drastically reducing HIV/AIDS infections and the adverse affects of the disease in 15 focus countries, twelve of which are on the African continent.
Launched in 2003 and set to be reauthorized in 2008, PEPFAR has achieved many successes. According to the U.S. Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, over 800,000 people are currently receiving anti-retroviral medications. Through PEPFAR, nearly 50,000 people living with AIDS start life-saving therapies every month. In fact, President Bush announced this May that his administration plans to double funding for PEPFAR to $30 billion.
However, the issue of poor nutrition and its potential to undermine the effectiveness of U.S. funded HIV/AIDS treatment programs has not been adequately addressed. The mortality rate for malnourished individuals starting an anti-retroviral regimen is 6 times higher than their adequately nourished counterparts, and the side effects of HIV/AIDS medication are more pronounced for individuals who are not receiving adequate nutritional support, which could impact a patient’s adherence to a treatment regimen.
“I was delighted to hear from the Bush Administration their intention to double the funding for PEPFAR,” Payne said. “However, we need to expand our viewpoint if we are truly going to make a dent in the global AIDS pandemic. We must see the interconnectivity between HIV/AIDS prevention care and treatment, and food security. While I appreciate the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator’s efforts to incorporate nutrition into its existing HIV/AIDS programs, much more must be done to fully integrate nutrition into PEPFAR activities. This should include PEPFAR funding for food and nutritional support. It should also include increased funding for development and emergency food assistance, so the United States Agency for International Development has enough resources to operate in all PEPFAR program areas.”
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