Nutrition and HIV/AIDS: A Training Manual - Linkages Project

• Protein, calorie, fluid, and micronutrient losses with vomiting, diarrhea, andmalabsorptionGiven the high risk of malnutrition for infants, children, and young people living withHIV/AIDS, those taking ARVs and other drugs need to be monitored closely tomanage the side effects of the drugs and the food and drug interactions. Side effectsof medications and food and drug interactions are similar to those experienced byadults living with HIV/AIDS. The health worker or counselor should work closely withparents or caregivers to ensure that children do not reduce their food intake andthat they eat a variety of foods, gain weight, and continue to grow.For more information, refer to Session 7 on infant feeding and PMTCT and Session 8on nutritional care for children born of women infected with HIV/AIDS.Programmatic implications for the management of drug and food interactions inHIV therapyBecause of the possible negative impacts of poorly managed drug and foodinteractions on the overall health and nutritional status of people living withHIV/AIDS, program managers and policymakers should provide the enablingenvironment and strengthen the capacity of health providers to properly managedrug and food interactions in HIV/AIDS therapy.Enabling environmentProgram managers should integrate the management of drug and food interactions inall services where the provider may come in contact with people living withHIV/AIDS. They should also make guidelines available with information on the ARVsand other modern and traditional therapies used in the area, the drug and foodinteractions, and the proper management of these interactions using foodsavailable. The guidelines should be available in all health services.The management of drug and food interactions should be included in the supportsupervision checklist. The information compiled from the support supervision reportwill highlight the areas where greater support for health providers is needed, such asinformation gap and lack of skills. Program managers should give health providersappropriate space to provide every client with confidential counseling on themanagement of drug and food interactions.262