Action Against Hunger Launches New Health/Nutrition Project In Two Countries With Highest Incidence of AIDS

MISSION BEGINS IN LESOTHO AND SWAZILAND Madrid, Spain — With little over a million inhabitants each, Swaziland and Lesotho are at the top of the list of countries with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS, 33% and 23% respectively. Additionally, the rate of chronic malnutrition affects three out of ten children under five years of age in Lesotho and half the number of children in Swaziland. With those figures on the table, Action Against Hunger / Action Contre la Faim (ACF) has decided to intervene in both countries, and since last October, is developing a health and nutrition project that will allow for the reduction of infant malnutrition caused, in part, by AIDS.

“Inadequate diet or infections leading to severe diarrheas are two causes of malnutrition intimately connected to HIV. When a child suffers from AIDS, his system is weakened and therefore exposed to malnutrition. This is why we talk about the vicious circle of hunger and AIDS, because they are two pandemics that feed off of each other” explains Susan Thurstans, HIV/AIDS expert for Action Against Hunger.

Until the middle of 2008, Action Against Hunger will train health personnel in both countries on the detection and treatment of acute malnutrition as well as on HIV/AIDS prevention. At the same time, Action Against Hunger will put in place food security activities which will strengthen the domestic economy of families affected by the virus. In order to achieve this, the organization is counting on financing from the European Community of Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO).

Figures of Interest (Human development index UNDP 2007)

Lesotho

Life expectancy: 42 years

Infant chronic malnutrition rate: 53%

Population with no access to drinking water: 21%

Population with no access to basic sanitation services: 63%

Swaziland

Life expectancy: 40 years

Infant chronic malnutrition rate: 37%

Population with no access to drinking water: 38%

Population with no access to basic sanitation services: 52%

For more information or for interviews with field representative: Alicia García/ Alejandra Mahiques: 609 018735 / 91 391 5306

About Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger / Action Contre la Faim (ACF), an international relief and development organization committed to saving the lives of malnourished children and families, provides sustainable access to safe water and long-term solutions to hunger. For nearly three decades, ACF has pursued its vision of a world without hunger by combating hunger in emergency situations of conflict, natural disaster, and chronic food insecurity.

Press Contact

Action Against Hunger - USA

James L. Phelan
Senior External Relations Officer, ACF-USA
Contact James Phelan
Direct: 212-967-7800 x108
Cell: 646-265-7796

Action Against Hunger - Spain

Alicia García García
Prensa y Comunicación Institucional, ACF-Spain
agarcia@achesp.org
Direct: +34 91 771 16 72