Multisectoral Approaches to Address HIV/AIDS

Key Priorities  |   Multisectoral HIV/AIDS Spotlight  |  Additional Technical Resources

	With support from USAID, a farmer checks his crop. Source: USAID

Because of the far-reaching impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic across all sectors of society, an effective response to HIV/AIDS requires action from all sectors, both to mitigate the impact of HIV on each sector and to develop a comprehensive approach to prevention, care, and support that will reach the greatest number of people at risk. Consider the following:

• HIV/AIDS leads households to divest land and other family assets and spend savings while earning less, causing declines in agricultural production and productivity.
• Unlike natural disasters, HIV/AIDS is prolonged, progressive, and persistent. The disease intensifies chronic food insecurity for households and communities, and increases vulnerability to severe malnutrition.
• As households lose breadwinners or must care for family members with AIDS, children often have to drop out of school to work or care for sick family members, or because the household can no longer afford school fees.
• HIV/AIDS primarily strikes the working-age population and undermines economic activity by driving up costs and diverting resources away from savings and investment.
• HIV/AIDS also interrupts the transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next, and encourages the emigration of professional elites, what we call brain drain.
• As families break down due to HIV/AIDS, many young girls secure basic necessities – food, shelter, and clothing – through transactional sex with older men, further fueling the epidemic.
• Finally, the entire stability of a country can be threatened due to the adverse and cumulative effects of HIV/AIDS over time.

USAID supports multisectoral responses to HIV/AIDS in many of its programs, including health, education, agriculture, democracy and governance, and economic growth.

Key Priorities

Agriculture and Food Security
Up to 80 percent of individuals in the most HIV/AIDS-affected countries depend on agriculture for their subsistence. Yet it is estimated that by 2020, HIV/AIDS will have claimed the lives of at least one-fifth of the agricultural workers in southern Africa. Since 1971, USAID has supported funding for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a global alliance endeavoring in the best of agricultural and environmental science. Today, CGIAR is implementing the Systemwide Initiative on HIV/AIDS and Africa to explore the linkages between HIV/AIDS, food security, and rural livelihood to establish recommendations for agriculture and public health institutions.

Democracy and Governance
Countries that are supportive of national AIDS policies are more likely to institute positive changes for citizens infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. An example includes allowing a woman to inherit property after her husband has died. This helps keep families physically intact and provides a safe haven for mothers and children. USAID continues to work with HIV/AIDS partners in the areas of women’s legal protection, policy analysis, and legislative strengthening.

Economic Growth and Trade
Integrating vulnerable populations into the development process is a key factor in mitigating the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS. In Ethiopia, USAID’s Urban Agriculture Program for HIV-Affected Children and Women has helped more than 38,000 women and children generate income from garden plots they manage and maintain. The activity helps the children remain in school, and with the nutritious intake of garden-grown vegetables, participants living with HIV/AIDS are better able to adhere to their treatment. An important component of this activity is to combine training on gardening techniques, such as drip irrigation management, with HIV/AIDS education.

Multisector HIV/AIDS Spotlight: Energy and Infrastructure
Powering Health: Electrification Options for Developing Country Health Facilities How USAID Is Helping PEPFAR Power HIV/AIDS Facilities USAID’s Energy Team has launched a program to provide technical support to PEPFAR programs that find lack of reliable energy services a barrier to achieving their programmatic objectives. This program is designed to help PEPFAR programs integrate energy issues into their overall planning, in order to ensure provision of energy services at priority health facilities in the most cost-effective and sustainable manner possible. Learn more

Education
The epidemic of HIV/AIDS has had a devastating impact on education. This is most apparent in sub-Saharan Africa, where two-thirds of all adults and children are living with HIV. The disease is contributing to a shortage of qualified teachers due to illness and death. Many students live with sick parents and relatives or have the illness themselves – causing them to miss or give up on school. The President's Africa Education Initiative (AEI), led by USAID, is improving primary school education through teacher training, textbooks, and other materials, such as HIV/AIDS prevention and life skills curricula. In addition, the Ambassadors’ Girls’ Scholarship Program is a key component of AEI, providing comprehensive support to girls' education, including HIV awareness and mitigation activities.

Health
Health is a key indicator of well-being and a vital component of sustainable development. In countries with high HIV prevalence, USAID is working to improve program coordination in key maternal and child health technical areas, such as cross-training for health care providers in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, antenatal care, ensuring access to pneumonia treatment as well as treatment for HIV-positive children, and targeting hygiene improvement and safe water activities for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Humanitarian Assistance
Around 95 percent of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations, where poverty, inadequate health care, and lack of infrastructure contribute to the spread of the disease. USAID is in a unique position to assist countries as they build stronger, healthier, more sustainable communities. In Sudan, USAID support led to the construction of an office compound for the Southern Sudan HIV/AIDS Commission. Years of war and neglect have left Southern Sudan with severe deficiencies in health services and facilities, and other basic structures. The new office compound will provide staff with essential work and meeting space for coordinating the response to HIV/AIDS in Southern Sudan.

Public-Private Partnerships
For years, USAID has furthered the development agenda through cutting-edge public-private partnerships and innovative alliances. These agreements advance the goals of sustainable development by maximizing resources in new ways. For example, USAID partners with Pfizer to place health, financial management, and human resources personnel in Ministries of Health and in nongovernmental organizations to build institutional capacity and to support HIV/AIDS programs.