01 Dec 2015

The World AIDS Day commemoration is a continuation of a stride in turning the tide against HIV/AIDS, the Acting President, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi, has said.

“We gather here on this day to reaffirm our determination to work together to overcome this global epidemic as we remind ourselves of the devastating effect that AIDS has had on our communities and society,” he said.

Mr Masisi, who was speaking at the World AIDS Day commemoration in Tonota on Tuesday December 1, said the country had mounted a robust multi-sectoral response to the epidemic.

The Acting President said since the introduction of the Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme in 1999, transmission of the virus from mother to child was reduced from 40 per cent in 2001 to less than two per cent in March this year.

Government’s introduction of the ARVs in 2002, he said, provided access to the treatment of all eligible patients and out of the 261 683 infected patients, 250 112 were on treatment.

Mr Masisi said early this year, government introduced Option B+, which he said was a lifelong regiment for preventing mother to child transmission and he urged all mothers and families to take advantage of the initiative.

Due to government’s commitment in fighting the epidemic, he said, new infections had declined from approximately 15 000 per annum in 2008 to 10 000 per annum in 2013 and AIDS related deaths decreased by 71 per cent from 2001 to 2011.

“This represents a reduction of AIDS related deaths from 21 000 to less than 6 000 per annum,” he explained.

Furthermore, Mr Masisi said a stigma survey in 2013 revealed low rates of discrimination and stigmatisation in Botswana, a thing he said was an indication that the society was moving in the right direction and that it was living to its value systems as enshrined in Vision 2016.

The Acting President, however, said HIV/AIDS interventions had remained a challenge as reflected by under-performance of the national response in prevention outcomes. 

“HIV transmission continues to be exacerbated by increasing multiple and concurrent sexual partnerships (MCP), which increased from 11.2 per cent in 2008 to 15.8 per cent in 2013 among the sexually active population, 15-49 year olds,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health, Ms Dorcas Makgato said the Tonota Sub District’s PMTCT was 2.5 per cent as at September, which she said was commendable. She however said the low HIV testing rate which stood at 11.8 per in 2014, high Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) rate of 14.6 per and high teenage pregnancy rate of 19.3 per this year were indicators of concern befalling the district.

Ms Makgato said her ministry has intensified and re-focused its strategies to prioritise preventive services over curative services. 

She said in order for the nation to achieve the target of zero new infections there was need to embrace behaviour change agenda.

For his part, United Nations president coordinator, Mr Anders Pedersen noted that Botswana had made phenomenal progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS over the last 15 years and had shown the world that it was doable. 

He said at the global level, the annual number of new infections dropped from 3.1 million to 2 million 15 years ago.

Mr Pedersen said the number of children acquiring HIV had declined by two thirds in the past 5 years. “The global target of having 15 million people on HIV treatment by 2015 was reached nine months earlier than target and this was a testimony to the force of global collective action guided by an ambitious and robust strategy,” he said. Ends