Nutrition is a supportive measure in dealing with infections such as HIV/Aids and tuberculosis (TB), meaning neither food nor food supplements are alternatives to drug therapy in treating people living with Aids, says a report released on Wednesday by the Academy of Science in South Africa (Assaf).
The report by the country’s top scientific advisory panel examines the influence of nutrition on human immunity and focuses mainly on the links between nutrition, HIV/Aids and TB.
South Africa has one of the world’s highest HIV infection rates with an estimated 12% of the country’s 47-million population infected with the deadly virus.
The 15 members of the study panel were assigned to review scientific proof that could provide a better understanding of the link between nutrition and the Aids pandemic.
Some of the panel members attended a press conference held on Wednesday at the Park Hyatt hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg, to give presentations on the report’s content.
“The reason the Assaf is addressing the issue about nutritional influences on human immunity and response to major pandemic infections, such as TB and HIV infections, is because they have been among the most controversial in South Africa in the last half-decade,” said Professor Jimmy Volmink, a director at the non-profit Cochrane Centre at the Medical Research Council.
Dr Dan Ncayiyana, editor of the South African Medical Journal, and Dr Muhammad Ali Dhansay, a pediatrician and acting executive director for the Medical Research Council of South Africa, were two of the panel members present at the conference.
Ali Dhansay said the study was undertaken because there had never before been research done on the link between nutrition and HIV in South Africa. “It is a shame that South Africa had, up until now, not done research on this critical issue,” he said.
This is Assaf’s second report on the effects of nutrition on South Africa’s two most common diseases. It took the academy two years to complete the study that was peer-reviewed by authoritative institutions such as the World Health Organisation, the Southern African HIV Clinicians’ Society and the national Department of Health.
“The panel believes that nutrition is not a substitute for antiretroviral agents in the treatment of those diseases,” said panel chairperson Barry Mendelow, in an overview of the study. He added that nutrition is a supportive measure that is not meant to address the primary cause of these health problems, but merely to assist where needed.
Recommendations
A nutritionist on the panel, Prof Este Vorster, said the report provides recommendations on three levels.
“We made policy recommendations, research-level recommendations and practical recommendations,” she said, adding that South Africa needs to have an increase in food security because of a phenomenon known as “hidden hunger” where people do not appear malnourished, but actually are.
The panel was most concerned about the fact that there is no certainty on whether some products said to be helpful in curbing the spread of HIV and TB actually do work. “You can watch TV and see that there is a R99 product that is promising to help you fight HIV, but where is the evidence? If there is any, it’s random,” said Professor Wieland Gevers, Assaf CEO.
He said there needs to be an affordable, reliable and available way for people to test how balanced their diets are. Adding to that, Ali Dhansay said “there could be an abundance of food but no sufficient nutrition, so people need to be taught about nutrition”.
The Department of Health has not yet commented on the report, which was completed in June this year. “It’s still early days for any response from any of the organisations that reviewed this study, but we are hoping to get a response from them,” said Volmink.
At the press conference there was also mention of the potential dangers of genetically modified food, but Vorster said there is no evidence that such food is harmful. “Africa has been using genetically modified maize for decades now,” she said.
Besides a struggling healthcare system characterised by a lack of doctors and nurses, many of whom have left the country for better pay abroad, the fight against Aids has been hampered by conflicting messages from senior government officials.
Mbeki sacked deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge this month for insubordination, sparking an outcry from Aids activists who strongly backed her policies and critics who say she was fired for political reasons.
Madlala-Routledge had clashed with Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, dubbed “Dr Beetroot”, who had horrified Aids activists with her advocacy of garlic, lemon and African potatoes over conventional antiretroviral drugs.