SARCS urges good nutrition in AIDS fight

SOUTH AFRICA: SARCS urges good nutrition in AIDS fight

JOHANNESBURG, 17 Oct 2003 (PLUSNEWS) - The importance of good nutrition, especially for people living with HIV/AIDS, was recently highlighted by the South African Red Cross Society (SARCS).

Speaking ahead of "World Food Day" on 16 October, SARCS president Mandisa Kalako-Williams said food security was vital to good health while the world searched for a medical solution to HIV/AIDS.

Kalako-Williams was quoted by the South African Press Association (SAPA) as saying, "HIV/AIDS and malnutrition are interrelated - research suggests that malnutrition increases the risk of HIV transmission from mother to baby, and the progression of HIV infection."

The country's high prevalence of HIV/AIDS is being aggravated by the problem of malnutrition, which is endemic in South Africa.

UNAIDS estimates that 20.1 percent of the country's adults between the age of 15 and 49 are living with HIV/AIDS.

[ENDS]

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