FREE NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT TO PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV
TANSACS and World Food Programme launch a new initiative
TANSACS and World Food Programme launch a new initiative
BY S G Haque
There is good news for the people living with HIV/AIDS. The Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society, in partnership with the World Food Programme, is going to provide free nutritional support to people living with HIV/AIDS registered at all the 15 Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) centres in the State. The programme will be started in the month of April, this year. Tamil Nadu is the first State in the country where the government will be initiating the roll-out of nutritional supplements in its care and support programme. This is the first State-wide model to integrate nutrition with a care and treatment progamme. The estimated outlay of this programme is around Rs 45 lakhs. The model is likely to be scale-up and replicated. Ms. Supriya Sahu, Project Director of the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society says, “It is estimated that the programme will benefit over 13,000 people living with HIV/AIDS. With nearly 75% infected people living in rural areas and many facing acute poverty, nutritious food is a major challenge that must be overcome to reduce opportunistic infection and in the long run increase their quality of life.” As Sharda, a positive woman in Chennai says, “My husband earns around Rs. 1,500 a month. It is not enough to feed the entire family. It is impossible for us to afford fruit and vegetables.”
In the absence of adequate nutrition, people living with HIV/AIDS are vulnerable to a host of infections and to a faster progression from HIV to AIDS. The nutrition programme is specially designed to provide HIV positive people all the essential nutrients which are important for building resistance to infection. For those on ART, this is an added boon as nutrition is essential for ART to be effective. Really, it's a good effort of the State AIDS control agency, as most of the people suffering from the disease are poor.
There is good news for the people living with HIV/AIDS. The Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society, in partnership with the World Food Programme, is going to provide free nutritional support to people living with HIV/AIDS registered at all the 15 Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) centres in the State. The programme will be started in the month of April, this year. Tamil Nadu is the first State in the country where the government will be initiating the roll-out of nutritional supplements in its care and support programme. This is the first State-wide model to integrate nutrition with a care and treatment progamme. The estimated outlay of this programme is around Rs 45 lakhs. The model is likely to be scale-up and replicated. Ms. Supriya Sahu, Project Director of the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society says, “It is estimated that the programme will benefit over 13,000 people living with HIV/AIDS. With nearly 75% infected people living in rural areas and many facing acute poverty, nutritious food is a major challenge that must be overcome to reduce opportunistic infection and in the long run increase their quality of life.” As Sharda, a positive woman in Chennai says, “My husband earns around Rs. 1,500 a month. It is not enough to feed the entire family. It is impossible for us to afford fruit and vegetables.”
In the absence of adequate nutrition, people living with HIV/AIDS are vulnerable to a host of infections and to a faster progression from HIV to AIDS. The nutrition programme is specially designed to provide HIV positive people all the essential nutrients which are important for building resistance to infection. For those on ART, this is an added boon as nutrition is essential for ART to be effective. Really, it's a good effort of the State AIDS control agency, as most of the people suffering from the disease are poor.
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