"Focus on" Series, 2007.

This paper “Right to Food and HIV/AIDS” is a part of the "Focus on" series, which also entails papers on “Right to Food and Bioenergy”, "Right to Food and Gender” “Right to Food and Indigenous Peoples” and “Right to Food and Access to Natural Resources”.

Enabling people to feed themselves is the primary obligation of states. When individuals are unable to do so, in cases such as when HIV/AIDS makes them physically incapable or when loss of infected parents leaves orphans struggling, the state is obligated to provide direct assistance.

HIV/AIDS makes people more vulnerable to food insecurity; in turn, food insecurity makes them even more susceptible to full-blown AIDS. Mobility and migration due to food insecurity and the effects of malnutrition heighten susceptibility to HIV/AIDS. Improved nutrition can extend the productive lives of HIV/AIDS patients, enabling them to provide for themselves and their families more effectively.

The paper addresses the right to food and HIV/AIDS in regard to the Human Rights-Based Approach, The Right to Adequate Food and the Right to Food Guidelines.