02 Jun 2016

As part of government’s pledge to ensure better healthcare for all citizens, Botswana is showing tremendous strides in attaining the UNAIDS ’90-90-90’ targets in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) ambitious goal of ending AIDs by 2030.

In an interview with BOPA, Ministry of Health (MoH) officials revealed that Botswana which falls in the Sub-Saharan region, one of the world’s worst affected areas, has shown massive improvement in providing access to anti-retroviral treatment.

National ARV Programme Coordinator, Ms Dinah Ramaabya said the Botswana AIDS Impact Survey 2013 (BAIS IV) estimated a national prevalence rate of 18.5 per cent compared to 17.6 per cent in BAIS III among population aged 18 months and above.

She said they have worked on ensuring access to treatment as part of achieving the WHO goal of winning the war against HIV/AIDS by having no new infections by 2030.

She further said this ambitious goal was adopted by UNAIDS as its 90-90-90 target which has seen Botswana being one of the best international performers in terms of achieving the set target.

UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets set for 2020 aim for 90 per cent of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90 per cent of those with HIV receiving ARV treatment, and 90 per cent of people on Anti Retro- Viral Treatment (ART) having suppressed viral load with less detection of the virus in their blood leading to reduced infection.

In the first 90, National Progamme HIV Testing and Counseling Officer, Ms Sheilah Lesotlho said over 90 per cent of the adult had tested for HIV at least once in their lives, while studies show that an estimated 70.2 per cent of the people know their status having been tested over the previous 12 month period.

She emphasised the need for people who have had exposure to risky behaviours to test every 3 months.  

However she expressed concern that there are some groups which are not forthcoming when it comes to testing.

“Men, couples and the youth are not coming forth citing various reasons, the youth for example say facilities are not youth friendly, men generally think their partners’ status is theirs,” she said.

Ms Raamabya said as for the second UNAIDS target 90 where people found with HIV should be receiving treatment Botswana has done exceptionally well achieving 97.4 per cent treatment enrolment of HIV positive.

“This figure applies to those who had CD4 count below 350 and were enrolled. However, people whose CD4 count above 350 were not included. This will soon change to treat all those found to carry the virus in line with WHO goals.

Further, Ms Ramaabya said as for achieving the last UNAIDS 90 percent target which aims to achieve viral suppression, the country has also recorded great progress.

“Botswana Combination Prevention Study shows that HIV viral load has been suppressed by 96 per cent for those who were enrolled for ARVs.  These were the ones who were on treatment according to MoH ARV eligibility guidelines,” she said.

She said statistics show that majority of those enrolled on ARV treatment adhere to treatment hence reduced mortality rates. However she said a few default to see traditional doctors and go to churches.

Ms Ramaabya further said in line with Government priority areas of eliminating mother to child HIV transmission in line with the Presidential Pledge Card, they  have managed to roll out Antirero viral services (ART) Services to all hospitals and the clinics 564 of the 565.

She added that they have included task sharing to enable nurses to enroll patients on treatment as it was done strictly by doctors in the past.

According to the Global AIDS Update 2016 on the HIV/AIDS pandemic globally, 17 million people across the globe now have access to Anti Retro Viral (ARV) medicines, leading to a significant reduction in AIDS-related deaths.  Botswana has been one of the best performing countries in attempting to ensure universal access to those who need ARV treatment. Ends