“I am overwhelmed by the very real prospect of nations of orphans.” With that sentence, James T. Morris, special envoy to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, captured the grim mood of his fellow delegation members following their recent fact-finding trip to southern Africa to study the impact of HIV/AIDS on food security.

The delegation, which included representatives from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization, found that AIDS and chronic hunger have forged a deadly alliance in nations such as Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The “calamitous conjunction” of AIDS and hunger has “decimated the robust, leaving millions of impoverished, sick, very old and very young behind,” the delegation stated in its report to the United Nations. “Households have lost breadwinners and caregivers to AIDS.” The report calls for a “bold new approach” to the crisis from the entire international community.

World Vision established its first AIDS program in Africa in 1990. Today, the organization provides AIDS care and prevention in 13 countries throughout southern Africa. In 2001, World Vision inaugurated a Southern Africa AIDS Cycle Relay, an annual event in which participants pedal more than 3,000 km to raise awareness and inspire action against the killer disease.