On May 11, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing entitled, “Saving Lives: The Deadly Intersection of AIDS and Hunger.”
In his opening remarks, Chair Richard Lugar (R-IN) stated, “If we are serious about battling the AIDS epidemic, it is imperative that we fully understand the AIDS-hunger cycle and examine our response to both problems in relation to each other. According to the World Food Program, more than 24,000 people die daily from hunger and related causes. According to USAID, nearly 8,500 people die daily from AIDS, and an estimated 14,000 people are infected every day. Every 14 seconds, AIDS turns a child into an orphan. Clearly, we cannot afford to waste a single day in developing the most effective response possible.”
Forecasting a bleak future, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said that HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects women and noted that women produce 80 percent of the total food supply in sub-Saharan Africa.
James Morris, Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP), said that while media coverage of the HIV/AIDS epidemic tends to focus on access to anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, the people most affected by the virus are more concerned about food. Mr. Morris explained that the disease undermines food production, malnourishment causes people to be more susceptible to HIV/AIDS, and malnourished people are more vulnerable to exploitation, which can further spread the disease. He said that prostitution “is especially rampant in poor communities where people simply do not know where they will get their next meal,” adding, “Poverty-stricken families look the other way as uneducated girls earn money in one of the few ways they can.”
To alleviate the effects of HIV/AIDS and hunger, Mr. Morris said that the United States and the international community must focus on the needs of the millions of orphans living in sub-Saharan Africa. Although many of these children must care for younger siblings without the guidance of an adult, “it is the elderly in Africa, especially women, whose backs are further bent under the weight of providing these children with food, shelter and in the very best circumstances a school uniform and fees so they can resume their education,” he stated. Mr. Morris argued that more effort should be concentrated on getting children to attend school: “Helping children to attend school longer especially girls has a proven record for interrupting the spread of HIV. The longer a girl attends school the more knowledgeable she becomes. Knowledge is power and it’s that personal power that enables young people to better manage the circumstances around them and better judge the actions of others. This translates into positive and healthy behaviors that last a lifetime.” He expressed his concern that Congress has decreased the amount of funding for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, from $300 million in FY2001 to $50 million in FY2004. Finally, Mr. Morris said that food and nutritional assistance should be used to maximize the benefits of ARV drugs.
U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Randall Tobias said that “one of the most socially and economically destructive aspects of HIV/AIDS is that it predominately afflicts the most productive members of society those between the ages of 15 and 45,” adding, “This directly impacts the size and productivity of the labor force, with negative outcomes for family income, assets and agricultural knowledge and productivity.” He cited a UNAIDS assessment in Zambia that showed that families in which the head of the household was chronically ill planted 53 percent fewer crops than healthy families. Explaining that adequate nutrition bolsters the immune system in HIV-infected individuals, Ambassador Tobias stated, “In the face of hunger and inadequate nutrition, however, the disease will accelerate, expose the infected to new illnesses, and reduce their ability to respond to treatment and anti-retroviral therapies.”
Highlighting U.S. efforts to improve nutrition in the developing world, USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios said that the Office of Food for Peace invested over $17 million and 40,000 metric tons of food to approximately 700,000 HIV-infected and affected people in Haiti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia. He explained that nongovernmental organizations on the ground “report that in communities receiving food aid, school attendance is improving, there are fewer underweight children and people are able to work more regularly.”
During the question and answer session, Sen. Boxer focused her comments on an article in the Los Angeles Times detailing abuses of female prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Quoting the article, she stated, “Whether it was one or numerous cases of rape, many Iraqis believe that sexual abuse of women in U.S.-run jails was rampant. As a result, female prisoners face grave prospects after they are released: denial, ostracism or even death. A woman who is raped brings shame on her family in the Islamic world. In many cases, rape victims have been killed by their relatives to salvage family honor, although there is no evidence this has happened to women who have been prisoners in Iraq.” Sen. Boxer asked for assurance that the committee would examine the treatment of female prisoners during a hearing on Iraq scheduled for next week.
