07 Apr 2016

The United States ambassador, Mr Earl Miller, says Botswana stands out as an admirable example to other countries in controlling the HIV pandemic.

Mr Miller said this at a two-day New Directions in Global Health workshop in Ghanzi on Tuesday. 

He noted that their investments in Botswana through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) had shifted to become more focused on the hardest hit geographic areas and the most impacted activities. 

He explained that the aim of the new shift was working with partners to help Botswana achieve epidemic control by 2018. 

He, therefore, noted that in order to achieve that, there was need to focus on the right things in the right places and doing them right. 

Offering HIV treatment to anyone living with HIV, Mr Miller said, was one of the right things. 

He applauded Botswana for considering the adoption of the Test and Treat Policy. 

He said moving towards treatment was supported by recent international randomised clinical trial. 

He stated that World Health Organization and PEPFAR encouraged all countries including Botswana to move to the new policy for all people living with HIV.  

He said they believed that treatment also acted as prevention as it lowered the risk of transmission to the uninfected sexual partners. 

Not leaving communities behind, Mr Miller explained that they had an important role to play in response to HIV saying they helped reduce the stigma and encourage community members to get tested and adhere to treatment. 

Therefore, he said PEPFAR was now focused on strengthening the community facility model by ensuring that people living with HIV are linked to treatment programs and other services such as gender based violence support and social services. 

He also said they want to ensure lifelong and cost-effective treatment for HIV positive pregnant mothers regardless of their viral load which will help prevent new infections among children, save mothers’ lives and reduce the number of orphans.

To accomplish this, Mr Miller said PEPFAR has shifted from working in all health districts in Botswana but to focus more on half of those districts with the greatest disease burden. 

He said focusing in such places offers an opportunity to make the biggest impact in the shortest amount of time. 

Mr Miller also noted that they target the right groups of people who stands to benefit the most from this shift, overcoming barriers that prevent key populations like female sex workers and males who engage in same sex relationships. 

PEPFAR has over a decade injected more than 750 million US dollars to government of Botswana to HIV response. 

Mr Miller said PEPFAR will support community TB care in the Ghanzi district which has the highest TB incidence in the country through partners like Kuru Health and BONEPWA. Ends