Authors: René Gommes, Jacques du Guerny, Michael H. Glantz and Lee-Nah Hsu

Edited by: Jessica White

A joint publication of UNDP, FAO and NCAR

Foreword

Identifying possible interrelations between climate and HIV/AIDS might seem, at first glance, far fetched.
But is it really so? One might form a different opinion after reading this paper. Sceptics might also think that such topics would have no policy or programmatic relevance. Again, when centred on the concept of hotspots, in which climatic factors can play an important role, it begins to be clear that certain aspects of climate are useful within the framework of an Early Warning Rapid Response System (EWRRS) for HIV/AIDS. Thus, early warning systems for HIV/AIDS can produce synergies with other warning systems, for example in agriculture and food security, which can also be climate dependent.
UNDP South East Asia HIV and Development Programme (UNDP-SEAHIV) has published several papers focusing on agriculture and its importance in HIV/AIDS epidemics, both in itself and in the context of rural communities. Following a bad crop, indebted farmers migrate to access other resources or, worse, can be driven to close their eyes on what can happen to their children. Climate factors become important in such a context.
This paper is a first application by FAO's Environment and Natural Resources Service of the hotspots concept to an issue where environment and agriculture play a complex role. It fonns a package with another recent paper, Environment and Agriculture Interactions: Implications for HIV and other infectious diseases,1 which examines HIV/AIDS, together with other infectious diseases, within the immediate physical environment of rural communities and households. The two papers form building blocks of the knowledge base of the UNDP-SEAHIV Programme. Furthermore, considering the papers together, as well as in relation to the concept of the Early Warning Rapid Response System, opens new possibilities for interventions which can reinforce and complement the present health efforts and strategies.
This treatment of root causes of HIV vulnerability puts into question traditional frameworks and challenges those in research - as well as those in action — to consider in a more holistic framework HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases which are related to changes introduced by development.
A word of caution: this paper is very much work in progress, limited to exploring some issues, opening doors onto others. Its main purpose is to encourage readers to join in this investigation of some of the complexities of HIV/AIDS. It is hoped that it will constitute the basis for further exploration of the interrelations between HTV/AIDS and the environment.

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September 2004