ABSTRACT
One of the emerging areas of emphasis in the HIV and AIDS research literature concerns the biomedical and social relationships between the pandemic and opportunistic infections such as TB. The interaction between HIV and TB is a complicating, but increasingly important, facet of the relationship between infectious diseases, the health of urban populations, and urban food security. The Southern African region is experiencing rapid urbanization and the triple burden of HIV, TB and food insecurity. This chapter moves beyond the individual nutritional implications of co-infection with HIV and TB, and of ART adherence or non-adherence, to examine their relationship with food insecurity at the household level. Drawing on individual health status data from AFSUN, the chapter shows that infectious disease prevalence in general – and HIV and TB in particular – is higher in food insecure households, although the strength of this relationship varies from city to city across the region.
