Health and the Environment

(Environmental Dimension of HIV/AIDS and Food Security)

HIV/AIDS

I. Introduction
ANCHOR: The world is now facing a big pandemic which is the COVID 19. Hence, the people
is not still aware that they are also facing the “Hidden Epidemic” the HIV/ AIDS viruses. The
increasing number of people infected is very alarming.

ANCHOR: According to the WHO, HIV continues to be a major global public health issue,
having claimed 36.3 million [27.2–47.8 million] lives so far. There were an estimated 37.7
million [30.2–45.1 million] people living with HIV at the end of 2020, over two thirds of
whom (25.4 million) are in the WHO African Region.

ANCHOR: In our country the Philippines. Since 2015 the World Health Organization has
been warning the Philippines that the country has the most rapidly escalating HIV epidemic
in the world. According to PH DOH 7,363 HIV cases have been recorded in the first eight
months of 2017, including 891 AIDS cases and 334 deaths. Purportedly there are 46,985 HIV
cases recorded nationwide since 1984. The figure includes 4,556 AIDS cases and 2,303
deaths. These are the small percentile of reported cases. Millions of Filipinos never in their
lives see a doctor or a nurse.

II. HIV/AIDS meaning

ANCHOR: Before we start to identify the impact of HIV/AIDS towards the environment let us
know first what is HIV/AIDS. Let us here from ….

REPORTER: Good Day! [Name of the Anchor] and Good Day people. Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection.
There's no cure, but it is treatable with medicine. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a
virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable
to other infections and diseases.

REPORTER: It is spread by contact with certain bodily fluids of a person with HIV, most
commonly during unprotected sex (sex without a condom or HIV medicine to prevent or
treat HIV), or through sharing injection drug equipment. If left untreated, HIV can lead to the
disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

REPORTER: The human body can’t get rid of HIV and no effective HIV cure exists. So, once
you have HIV, you have it for life. This is [Name] reporting, back to the studio.

ANCHOR: Thank you [Name of the reporter] for the information about HIV/AIDS now we’re
going to identify the impact of HIV/AIDS to the environment.

III. Impact of HIV/AIDS to the environment

ANCHOR: As most of the world has been affected by this health issue, HIV/AIDS disease. We
are now going to identify the impact of HIV/AIDS to the environment. Let us here from

REPORTER: The connections between HIV/AIDS and the environment are complex,
multifactoral, bi-directional, and involve indirect as well as direct pathways. In assessing the
literature, we identified a number of topics linking HIV/AIDS and the environment. Some of
the most important themes connecting the two are: food insecurity, natural resource use,
agriculture and land tenure and use, the fisheries sector, gender issues, orphans and
vulnerable children, migration, crisis situations, and climate change impacts of HIV/AIDS.

REPORTER: Although on-the-ground circumstances make it difficult to know exactly how the
disease affects the environment or vice versa, it is clear that people are changing their
behavior in response to the pandemic. These changes go well beyond the realm of sexual
behavior to affect coping decisions that change the access, use, and management of natural
resources to secure individual, family, and community livelihoods HIV/AIDS is thought to
lead to overuse of natural resources, loss of traditional knowledge, loss of human capacity
and labor, increased vulnerability of community-based natural resources management and
diversion of conservation funds to meet HIV/AIDS-related costs.

REPORTER: This are the impact of HIV/AIDS to the environment and vice versa:
[Pwede na to recorded kase mahaba]
• Food Insecurity
Food insecurity is a linchpin in examining the connections between the environment and
HIV/AIDS. Malnourished individuals are more susceptible to HIV infection, and tend to
have worse outcomes once they are infected with HIV and in order to feed themselves
or their families may be more likely to engage in risk behaviors. There is growing
evidence that antiretroviral treatment itself may be less effective in persons with
inadequate nutrition. The relationship between food insecurity and HIV/AIDS is, in fact,
vicious; households affected by HIV/AIDS are subsequently less likely—because of loss
of labor productivity, increased expenditure on treatment, etc.—to have adequate
supplies of food, and are more likely to consume fewer nutrient-rich foods, increasing
levels of malnutrition at the household level.
• Natural Resource Use
Vulnerable families depend on the local environment for a number of different types of
natural resources, including wild foods (plants and bush meat), natural water sources
for consumption, washing, and household use, traditional plant and animal medicines,
timber for building and coffin-making, raw materials for craft-making, and fuelwood or
burning material for direct cooking and heating or conversion to charcoal. Natural
resources are a “safety net” for families when HIV/AIDS and/or poverty restrict(s) them
from otherwise maintaining a livelihood. Natural resource collection is generally less
labor-intensive than agriculture, and requires little to no start-up capital . This effect is
observed elsewhere; impoverished families in Brazil have also been observed to use
natural resources as a form of “natural insurance”.
• Agriculture and Land Use
In addition to contributing to a reported increase in natural resource usage, the HIV/
AIDS epidemic has contributed to a substantial reported change in land use practices.
Because HIV/AIDS primarily affects individuals during their most productive wage
earning period (people of working age between 18 and 45), illness and mortality from
AIDS results in a labor shortage at the household level. Though other factors, including
drought, land degradation, crop disease, and a host of other issues also affect
productivity and land use. HIV/AIDS-affected families have also been observed to
gradually sell off household assets to gain income as a buffer against lost labor and lost
productive value. Families that own livestock sell the animals to pay for food, treatment,
or household expenses, which leads not only to a reduction in income, but also to a
decrease in available manure and animal labor, which in turn further reduces food
production.
• Fisheries Sector Practices
HIV/AIDS affects production sectors other than agriculture. Illness may undermine
fisherfolks’ ability to travel long distances and perform labor-intensive fishing activities,
thereby affecting livelihoods in much the same way as it does for farmers. Fisherfolk are
both highly dependent on natural resources (fisheries) for their livelihoods, and are
highly vulnerable to HIV infection. A variety of reasons have been suggested to explain
the high prevalence of HIV in the fisheries sector including the age group of most
fishermen (15-35), the migratory nature of many people involved in fishing, sudden
influxes of cash from sales, irregular working hours, and limited access to health services
• Gender Issues
Gender inequality is often mentioned, both as a precondition for many of the
deleterious links between HIV/AIDS and the environment, and also as an exacerbating
factor. Women are more susceptible to HIV infection, both for biological reasons (the
larger and thinner mucous membrane of the vagina allows for easier transmission), and
for socio-cultural reasons, such as unequal sexual power relationships, sexual violence
against women, and the perception that women should be naïve and passive in sexual
relationships. Furthermore, women tend to carry the majority of labor burden in
household activities, childcare, and caring for the ill. . Women are also often subjected
to coercive sex and food-insecure women have been documented to be more likely to
engage in unprotected sex and to report low power in relationships.
• Migration
Migration has also been identified as a link between HIV/AIDS and the environment, and
has bi-directional effects. Rural-to-urban migrants, seeking livelihoods in cities or fleeing
untenable rural conditions (including lack of access to land and overly degraded land)
are at increased risk of HIV infection because of enlarged sexual networks, increased
substance abuse, higher population viral prevalence, social disruption and more casual
and commercial. Meanwhile, seasonal or work-related migration similarly increases risk,
primarily through partner concurrency, lack of availability of condoms and HIV/AIDS-
education in remote areas, and increased commercial sex.
• Climate Change
 Climate change appears to be contributing to environmental variability, via higher risk of
extreme events, which may lead to increased poverty, migration, and economic
vulnerability (all risk factors for HIV transmission). Environmental changes also foster
conditions that are favorable for disease transmission. Degraded environments produce
fewer crops, contributing to malnutrition and all of its negative effects on health and
immunity.
[video na dito]
REPORTER: That’s it for the impact of the HIV/AIDS to the environment. I’m [name]
speaking, back to the studio.

IV. Policies to address HIV/AIDS

ANCHOR: Now, let us here from [Name of Reporter] the policies that address the HIV/AIDS
virus. Let us see what are some law and policies that are made to prevent and address
HIV/AIDS.

REPORTER: These are the policies/laws that address HIV/AIDS. First, The AIDS Prevention
and Control Act of 1998 (Republic Act No. 8504, known as the AIDS Law) is the Philippine
government’s legislative response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The law’s “declaration of
principles” calls for the promotion of “public awareness about the causes, modes of
transmission, consequences, means of prevention and control of HIV/AIDS through a
comprehensive nationwide educational and information campaign organized and conducted
by the State.” Article I of the law emphasizes education and information while article II is
about safe practices and procedures. This law also creates the Philippine National AIDS
Council, the government’s highest policy-making body on HIV/AIDS. The law has since come
under criticism for being outdated and inadequate, with some lawmakers now seeking an
amendment that will remove the provision that requires parental consent for children
wishing to avail themselves of HIV testing.

REPORTER: Second, The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012
(Republic Act No. 10354, known as the RH Law), is landmark legislation that provides a
comprehensive array of reproductive health services. The result of more than a decade of
contentious debate and negotiations in Congress, due mainly to opposition by conservatives
and religious groups, the law has generally been praised by health advocates given the
numerous and considerable reproductive health issues that Filipinos face. Among other
things, the law directs the government to put in place programs for the “prevention,
treatment and management of reproductive tract infections (RTIs), HIV and AIDS and other
sexually transmittable infections (STIs).” It also instructs the state to provide sexuality
education and counseling.

REPORTER: Lastly, On April 3, 2013, the Department of the Interior and Local Government
issued Memorandum Circular No. 2013-29 that aims to “strengthen local responses toward
more effective and sustained responses to HIV and AIDS. ”This order enjoins local
governments to convene local AIDS councils, which are considered effective in battling the
epidemic and are in line with the department’s efforts to “localize” the response to
 HIV/AIDS. The Local Government Guide for Practical Action, in localizing the official response
to HIV/AIDS, lists men who have sex with men as one of the “key population-at-risk groups”
for local governments to “forge partnerships with” in order to address the epidemic.

REPORTER: That would be all for the policies/laws addressing HIV/AIDS. This is [NAME]
reporting, back to the studio.

ANCHOR: Thank you [Name], that’s it for Environmental Dimensions of HIV/AIDS. This is
[Name] reporting for E-News.

Food Security

I. Introduction
II. Food Security meaning
III. Impact of Food Security to the environment
IV. Policies to address Food Security

Conclusion on both health Issues