New FAO/WHO Manual on Living Well with HIV/AIDS

FAO and WHO have recently produced a manual on nutritional care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, called 'Living well with HIV/AIDS'. The manual aims to provide practical recommendations for a healthy and balanced diet for people living with HIV/AIDS in countries or areas with a low resource base. It aims at improving nutrition in a home-based setting. It is also applicable to people with HIV/AIDS in hospitals and other institutional settings, including hospices.

The food requirements of people with HIV/AIDS are described and recommendations given on foods and eating habits to meet these requirements. The manual also explains how to address the nutritional aspects of HIV-related conditions. Practical recipes using locally available foods are suggested, as well as some simple home remedies for easing some of the problems people with HIV/AIDS may experience.

The manual consists of:

1. Guidelines, with accompanying information and explanations, intended for use by:
   • Health service providers and other extension workers, as well as those involved at the national and community level in the many different aspects of counselling and home-based care
   • Community based organisations working with people with HIV/AIDS who need information for programming and counselling purposes
   • Planners in the health, social and nutrition services so they can develop national or local guidelines for nutritional care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS
   • International agencies that support national and community-based support programmes for people with HIV/AIDS
2. Summary sheets that can be used as handouts, listing the main points for each key topic.

The summary sheets and leaflets are specifically for use by people who are living with HIV/AIDS or who are caring for a person living with HIV/AIDS, who want to be better informed.

The annexes contain:

• further technical information
• suggested recipes for home treatments and foods for different conditions
• forms to monitor food intake and weight
• sources of literature and information on institutions providing support for people living with HIV/AIDS.

¹Further information and a full text version of the manual is available online at the WHO website http://www.who.int/disasters, and at the FAO website at http://www.fao.org