08 Nov 2015

Family Health International-360 in conjunction with United States Agency for International Development,  is undertaking a project aimed at attaining the HIV/AIDS zero-infection goal through a programme termed Advancing Partners and Communities (APC).

Family Health International representative,  Mr Matshidiso Selekedi explained at a kgotla meeting recently that APC is a project aimed at supporting interventions across the care and treatment cascade after the realisation that people quit Antiretroviral Drugs, while some refuse to even start treatment.

It was explained that the project is specifically implemented to obtain the 90-90-90 target. The 90-90-90 target means that through the community intervention teams, at least 90 people will be convinced to get to know their HIV status by being encouraged to get tested.

The other 90-target is for the community intervention team to encourage 90 of those infected with HIV to start the Antiretroviral programme, and the last 90-target is for targeting at least 90 people who have already started the ARV programme to be made to stick to it.

However, the APC programme will not only be focused on HIV/AIDS, but also tuberculosis, gender based violence and youth programming, whereby youth activities will be implemented, with special attention being given to  girls and young women.

Furthermore, the interventions on youth and gender based violence will include; information sharing, skill building, condom promotion and HIV prevention. Some of the stakeholders taking part in the project are Botswana Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, whose role will be to go from door to door encouraging people to test for HIV, undergo regular checking of CD4 count as well as making them aware of the possibilities of re-infection.

University Research Company Assist will, through its surveys, come up with new strategies to help improve health services. The APC project is operating in seven health facilities in the southern region in and around Kweneng East.

Other areas are Mahalapye, Kgatleng and Gaborone South, whose populations the survey found to be highly affected by HIV. ENDS