16 Apr 2015

The African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP) prides itself on various achievements and looks forward to continuous partnerships with the government and other stakeholders in the fight against HIIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis.

The chief executive officer of (ACHAP) made the statement during a workshop aimed at presenting the organisation’s contribution to the HIV/AIDS and TB response in Gaborone on  April 14.

 Dr Jerome Mafeni noted that ACHAP was formed during a crisis when the HIV prevalence in the country was skyrocketing and needed concerted interventions. He said although at the time the organisation did not have a clear roadmap, it was determined to fight the epidemic with whatever means available.

Dr Mafeni noted that Botswana’s high prevalence rate had led to swift declines in life expectancy, and was threatening to reverse the country’s development gains.

He said civil society actors were actively calling for governments and the pharmaceutical industry to respond to the crisis.

He said the Merck Company Foundation (TMCF) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) leveraged strong ties with the government and the political will of leaders such as former president, Mr Festus Mogae to establish ACHAP in 1999 and 2000.

Dr Mafeni noted that BMGF and TMCF each contributed $50 million for ACHAP phase I of 2001-2009. 

With that, he said ACHAP was able to assist the government in establishing one of Africa’s most successful public sector HIV/AIDS treatment programmes through infrastructure development, training of health care workers, provision of equipment and drugs and systems strengthening.

Dr Mafeni noted that phase II of ACHAP, which was launched in 2010, received funding to the tune of $15 million from the BMGF and $26 million from TMCF for the period which ended in 2014.

The funding was to support the prevention of new HIV infections, transition of the ART programme to the Ministry of Health, and strengthening the country’s TB/HIV programme.

Dr Mafeni said ACHAP’s past successes, experiences and partnerships were a solid foundation on which to build the future, adding that proven capabilities would continue to shape ACHAP in the areas of strategic health information and knowledge generation; health systems strengthening; policy analysis and advocacy; programme design, planning and implementation as well as grant management.

He said ACHAP has a proven model for improving health outcomes that was both relevant to health interventions beyond HIV and relevant to markets beyond Botswana.

He added that it would also continue with its core mandate of delivering high quality, effective, and efficient programmes and delivering a high social return on investment.

Dr Mafeni noted that ACHAP faced challenges such as adopting new strategies to shift to HIV/AIDS prevention, and that it could have capitalised on its resources to achieve more.

He, however, said ACHAP’s history of adaptation generated lessons for its future, particularly on forming partnerships, leveraging the private sector, investing knowledge, and planning for sustainability.

The objectives of the workshop, which was attended by different organisations and government officials, was to present ACHAP’s contribution to the national HIV/AIDS and TB response, highlight key lessons learnt, best and promising practices that would inform future programming and policy development and obtain feedback from stakeholders on how information shared could be leveraged to assist other programmes within and outside Botswana.

Others were to sensitise stakeholders on the potential for new partnerships as well as share the vision for the future of ACHAP. ENDS