Health is deeply tied to social and economic conditions that must be transformed if we truly seek to heal the sick. It is not enough to provide patients with medicines, then send them home to a leaky house where a lack of clean water prevents them from taking their pills, and a lack of educational and employment opportunities condemns them to a lifetime of poverty. PIH’s programs to deliver food, water, and housing to people in greatest need seek to address the root causes that drive disease in poor countries. These programs are based on years of experience at our project sites, and are an integral part of our approach to comprehensive health care.

Food

The world produces a surplus of food, yet every year 6 million children die from causes related to hunger and malnutrition. Worldwide, 854 million people are chronically undernourished, the vast majority living in developing countries. Hunger and malnutrition are major causes of illness, major obstacle to treatment and major cause of death. The impact of hunger on medical care cannot be overestimated.  On an empty stomach, medications may be less effective or difficult to take; travel to clinics becomes impossible due to weakness; work time cannot be spared for medical visits.  Deficiencies in nutrients such as iron or vitamin A weaken the body’s ability to fight disease, and cause painful and debilitating symptoms.  Hunger is particularly associated with HIV and AIDS.  People living with HIV infection who grow much of their own food may lose productivity, income, and their personal food supply when they are ill. In turn, a lack of food only worsens HIV disease.

[[[This paragraph should be cut from here, but might be useful somewhere else—Without sufficient, nutritious food, people living with AIDS are less able to adhere to their treatment regimens or to ward off AIDS-related illnesses.  This cycle drives families into economic crisis, migration and displacement.  One study of HIV-positive women receiving care at our Cange medical center revealed that 54 percent were spending most or all of their family’s monthly income on food. 

Since the beginning of 2006, PIH has redoubled its efforts to call attention to the vital, life-saving role of food assistance as part of a comprehensive approach to treating disease and poverty.  At PIH project sites, health workers [??] evaluate patients’ clinical and socioeconomic needs and distribute food baskets that improve the effectiveness of medications and alleviate the burden of hunger.  Each month in Rwanda, over 1200 patients and their families receive food baskets filled with nutritious staples such as rice, beans, and vegetable oil.  In Haiti, with the support of the World Food Program, PIH began distributing food assistance in June 2006 to an additional 2,500 patients and their families.  PIH is also supporting daily school lunches for over 6,000 children in central Haiti in partnership with 21local schools.  In conferences and publications around the world, PIH continues to advocate for increased access to food assistance and fair trade policies, echoing our patients’ call that food is the cure for hunger.