Botswana: Highest Prevalence, Highest Response. 19/08/06

Press Release no. 34 Press Release August 19, 2006 Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance [info@e-alliance.ch]

Botswana, a desert country in southern Africa envied for its diamonds, political stability and economic prosperity, made headlines a decade ago with one of the highest HIV rates in the world.

The country’s small population had a death threat hanging over it. Particularly worrisome was that the virus struck the very core of the skilled and trained workforce, wreaking havoc in the 24-49 age group.

Botswana now is the envy of many nations for openly admitting that AIDS was the country’s number one enemy and allocating significant resources to fight the disease.

The country aims to achieve zero transmission rates by 2016, the year in which Botswana celebrates 50 years as an independent republic.

Of the 300,000 people living with the virus, 10 percent of them are on anti-retroviral therapy, provided free at government hospitals and clinics throughout the country. With free testing also available, it is hoped that more lives can be prolonged and a productive workforce sustained.

In the words of Honourable Nonofo Molefhi, chairperson of the parliamentary select committee on HIV and AIDS, “the war against HIV has not been easy. … We had to save the nation from imminent destruction. We had to get down in with work, no procrastination.”

That meant setting aside 15 percent of the national budget for health and in particular the fight against the spread of AIDS.

Addressing an audience of delegates to the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Professor Sheila Tlou, Botswana’s health minister, said Botswana, with a population of 1.7 million, is seeing a decline in the spread of the virus, especially among young people.

The war against the disease, she added, is being won because of deliberate effort and commitment. The National AIDS Coordinating Council is chaired by Festus Mogae, Botswana’s president.

“In fighting HIV, we have adopted a multisectoral approach and involve all stakeholders and role players, including the business community, civil society organizations and the churches. The key goals in the approach are to prevent new infections, provide care and support, manage the response and ensure that safe blood use is promoted,” said Tlou.

Unlike many countries in the developing world, Botswana’s health care system is dependent on internal resources. “You cannot depend on donor funding to run your health care system. The government funds more than 90 percent of the system. That is why we have been able to do what we have achieved so far,” she told delegates at the conference.

The prevalence of HIV in Botswana today is 17 percent, and mother-to-child transmission has been reduced significantly.

To date, AIDS has killed over 33,000 people in Botswana, many of them in their prime years and at the height of their productive lives.

By Lucas Lethlogile

Listen to Lucas Lethlogile’s interviews with participants of the Ecumenical pre-conference and International AIDS Conference in the audio gallery at http://www.e-alliance.ch/iac_2006.jsp