| Addressing food and nutritional needs of People Living With HIV | APHIA II Coast partners with World Food Program (WFP) The goal of HIV care and treatment programmes is to provide a continuum of holistic care that meets the needs of those infected with or affected by HIV. In Kenya, APHIA II Coast is supporting the provision of care to 119,617 People Living with HIV (PLHIV) under the USAID supported project. Out of these, 22,000 PLHIV are on ART. APHIA II Coast Project has supported the establishment of Comprehensive Care Centers (CCCs) within health facilities in the Coast region and built the capacity providers in the private sector to provide HIV care. This experience has shown that a significant number of PLHIV who go for HIV treatment suffer from the combined burden of HIV, hunger and poverty. Anti Retro-viral (ARV) drugs alone are insufficient for this most vulnerable and food insecure population because HIV and malnutrition interact in complex ways to exacerbate disease and nutritional problems. Malnutrition hastens progression of HIV infection to AIDS, and increases mortality, risk of opportunistic infections (OIs), and immunologic decline. These problems combine to short survival rates. Effective use of medications, including ARVs, requires adequate nutritional well-being. Thus nutritional therapy is an important aspect of improving both medical and nutritional outcomes for PLHIV. Integration of nutrition interventions is an important consideration in HIV&AIDS care and treatment activities. |
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APHIA II REGIONS 
