September 2003, Volume 9 No. 2

ARTICLE 1

Overview on Current HIV/AIDS in Asia: "Some Implications for Food and Nutrition Security"

Friederike Bellin-Sesay
Institute for Human Nutrition, Wilhelmstr. 20, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
E-mail: friederike.bellin@ernaehrung.uni-giessen.de

Abstract
Although Asian countries in general face relatively low national HIV/ AIDS prevalence rates, there are serious localized epidemics in some countries that have important implications for food and nutrition security.  The rapid development of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in African countries should serve as a warning to Asian countries.  While some of the important modes of transmission of relevance to Asia are highlighted, the focus of this article is on the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the food security and nutrition situation at the household and community levels.  Acknowledging the fact that HIV/AIDS is not merely a medical problem, the impact of the epidemic on nutritional issues, food production, income and the difficulties of poor households in coping with the situation are discussed.  The article concludes with some remarks in relation to possible actions to mitigate the HIV/AIDS epidemic before it escalates beyond control in Asia.

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