Kampala — GOOD nutrition is important in fighting HIV progression to Aids but, alone, it cannot fight HIV. According to SciDev.Net, a science publication, improved nutrition cannot substitute medication to treat people infected with HIV.

SciDev quoted a report released August 22 by the Academy of Science of South Africa to dispel claims by some leaders and researchers that herbal concoctions and food supplements are a non-toxic alternative to Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART).

A panel of 15 researchers, funded by the United States National Academy of Sciences, spent 16 months examining local and international medical research on nutrition, HIV and tuberculosis.

"No food, no component made from food and no food supplement has been identified in any credible study as an effective alternative to appropriate medication," Barry Mendelow of South Africa's National Health Laboratory Services, who chaired the study, was quoted as saying.