MOZAMBIQUE: Focus on food security at World AIDS Day

JOHANNESBURG, 1 Dec 2003 (PLUSNEWS) - The international aid organisation, World Vision, has announced plans to focus on "the relationship between communities' vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and food security" during this year's World AIDS Day in Mozambique.

The organisation aims to ensure that ongoing efforts to tackle the country's food crisis also prioritise people directly affected by HIV/AIDS.

In a recent statement, World Vision Mozambique AIDS coordinator, Joaquim Brandao said: "We'll be urging government entities and NGOs to seriously consider the importance of introducing special measures and programmes, so as to accommodate the needs of such groups, since their health status is likely to deteriorate much more rapidly than others if they do not feed themselves properly."

Recent estimates indicate that while some 700,000 people are affected by the food crisis, close to 14 percent of the country's 19 million inhabitants are living with HIV/AIDS.

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