The world observes World AIDS Day on December 1. But what has gone missing is there is a link between food and health and how enough food supply can resist maladies. Consider this: For obese people the idea of going to the doctor and being told to eat more is bizarre. And yet, for millions of people in the developing world, malnutrition is the root cause of many of their ailments. Eating more of the right food is actually the best way to stay healthy.

It may seem blindingly obvious when you spell it out, but few people realise that there is a direct link between health and hunger. Hungry people are far less effective in fighting disease than well-fed people. An undernourished child tends to suffer more days of sickness

than a well-nourished child.

Infections, no matter how mild, have an adverse effect on a person’s nutritional status, triggering different reactions, including reduced appetite. And even when nutrients are absorbed, they may be lost due to infections.

It is a self-perpetuating problem, linked to political and economic choices. Just as poor health and malnutrition affect the growth and development, so they constrain the social and economic development of nations. One of the clearest examples of the close relationship between hunger and health is in the AIDS pandemic. When a person is infected by HIV, their intestinal track is affected, resulting in poor absorption and loss of appetite by up to 30 percent for adults and 100 percent for children, leading to growth failure, a hallmark of AIDS.

Given the huge sums of money invested in AIDS research and anti-retroviral treatment, it is surprising how many donors apparently overlook the need for a comprehensive package that includes food support in treatment of AIDS. And the cost of that food supplement is less than two percent of the current cost of drug programmes, at just 66 cents per person per day.

As with any other drug, ART is more effective when people are adequately nourished. Studies indicate that lack of food is a major reason for people not to seek treatment for HIV/AIDS, specifically the fear that when they have the treatment, their appetite will grow and they lack sufficient food to meet their increased needs. It is only by prioritising the hungry and by supporting principles of inclusion, equality, ease of access and transparency that the hungry can benefit from the technological innovations that are transforming the world. For the first time in history, we can direct enormous resources to overcoming hunger and poor health. The cost of inaction is high, both economically and morally.

Those of us who are not among the ranks of the world’s two billion people who suffer from “hidden hunger” (micronutrient deficiencies) might pause for a moment, during the coming weeks of feasting in many countries, and help mobilise the collective will to end hunger and improve health. Not just for economic reasons, but since ending hunger is moral imperative.