World Food Programme Becomes Ninth Cosponsor of UNAIDS
UNAIDS on Thursday, World Food Day, announced that the World Food Programme has joined the United Nations joint program on AIDS as a cosponsor, according to a UNAIDS release. Together with the eight other cosponsors, WFP will help to strengthen the work of UNAIDS in fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic. WFP supports HIV/AIDS programs in 38 countries worldwide, including 21 of the countries hardest hit by the epidemic. WFP assists poor, HIV-affected households in ensuring that basic nutritional needs are met and provides food aid to help prolong the lives of HIV-positive parents. In addition, WFP is working to ensure that HIV-positive people receive the nutrition that is essential to their health. "WFP has a unique role to play, especially in emergencies, by providing urgently needed food aid to vulnerable people, particularly women and children," Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, said, adding, "Ensuring a stable supply of food in homes and the community is a form of HIV prevention as it minimizes the risk of people engaging in risky behavior in exchange for food." WFP Executive Director James Morris said, "Perhaps we cannot give [people living with HIV/AIDS] hope for a cure, but we can give them time" (UNAIDS release, 10/16).
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