NT 325 - Nutrition & HIV

The purpose of this course is to explore HIV and nutrition within a South African context. South Africa is the country with the highest burden of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the world, as estimated by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 2012, approximately 6.1 million South African people were infected with the virus. Due to HIV being highly prevalent in South Africa, the course aims to establish the role nutrition plays in the treatment thereof. Firstly, it will look at the prevalence and progression of the virus as well as its complications specifically those impacting nutrition. The course will further focus on nutritional guidelines, supplementation and interventions for HIV-infected individuals during different life stages and conditions in the South African context. These interventions will be explored within the course through the pre-readings, class discussions and course related trips.