08 Apr 2014

Botswana Wildlife Training Institute (BWTI) principal, Mr Moemi Batshabang said tertiary education represents a critical group of young people who play a key role in the prevention, treatment and support necessary for Botswana to overcome the HIV and AIDS scourge.

Speaking recently at the Maun cluster teAIDS competitions held under the theme “gear up – a call for action towards health lifestyles”, Mr Batshabang said this year’s theme comes at a time when there are concerns of excessive use of drugs and alcohol amongst the youth.

He said these concerns are justified in view of the established positive correlation between new HIV infections and drug/alcohol abuse, further emphasising the need for a healthy lifestyle to complement all the medical and psychological support.

He said the aim of the competition was to raise awareness on the thematic areas; abstinence, Consistent Correct Condom use (CCC), multiple concurrent partnerships (MCP) and safe male circumcision (SMC). Mr Batshabang said tertiary students were vital key players in curbing the virus and in disseminating information to their peers and the nation at large.

“Not only can they play key roles as individuals in preventing the virus from dominating their generation in the same manner that it has done to the previous generations, but they also play a key role in piloting the future course of HIV/AIDS pandemic here in Ngamiland and Botswana in general in the choices that they make regarding stigma, treatment, support and prevention”, he said.

He further said the decisions made by young people today and in the future about HIV and AIDS will have a great impact in the lives of their children and future generations.

For her part Campus Health Coordinator, Ms Reginah Lesole said teAIDS is an initiative that is part of tertiary education council (TEC)’s comprehensive Health and Wellness program for tertiary sector and thus far, there are 30 peer educators that have been trained in Maun.

She said the project came about as a response to the devastating gap in the HIV/AIDS services to tertiary students in Botswana, something that was detected by a study that was carried in 2008. “It was discovered that there was virtually no HIV-related services being offered at tertiary level”, she said.

She said after initial consultations, it was concluded that tertiary institutions must immediately begin to provide students with focal persons that will teach them all there is to know about HIV and its impact on all aspects of life.

The participating tertiary institutions in the competition included BWTI, Ba Isago College, Botho University and GIPS under this cluster and were competing in 5 categories of art, beauty contest, debate, drama and poetry.

GIPS won the poetry and arts categories, the drama category was scooped by BWTI, beauty contest and debate category went to Ba Isago, who emerged as the overall winners of this year’s competitions. GIPS followed in 2nd position, with the 3rd going to BWTI and Botho in 4th. ENDS