09 Apr 2017

 

Community Acting Together to Control HIV (CATCH) initiative has been hailed as a cornerstone in addressing issues of universal access to health and social services.

 

Apart from addressing HIV/AIDS, the initiative will also help communities to address issues such as crime, teenage pregnancy, drugs and alcohol abuse and unemployment, among others.

 

Assistant minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Dikgang Makgalemele said on April 6 during the launch of the programme in Ramotswa Kgotla that he ‘would like to see CATCH addressing problems such as teenage pregnancy, school dropouts, alcohol and drug abuse, issues of moral decadence, poverty and all issues that put people in vulnerable position’. 

 

He further appreciated the programme’s effort in resuscitating community structures and improving collaboration between various groups, creating more vibrant and efficient community response.

 

Mr Makgalemele said the programme came at a time when the country was facing some new trends and challenges in the fight against diseases.

 

He said a newly released report by the ministry of Basic education indicated that 22 per cent of the 13 to 19-year-old surveyed students reported having had sexual intercourse. 

 

The assistant minister said the proportion of the students who reported having had sex before 13 years was 33 per cent having increased from 17 per cent in 2010. 

 

“I have to strongly stress that this is not good news at all,” added Mr Makgalemele.

 

The UNAIDS regional director for East and Southern Africa, Professor Sheila Tlou commended the traditional leadership for their role in the CATCH model.

 

“CATCH to me is the best practice that I am going to sell to other countries,” said Professor Tlou. 

 

She said the model was a bottom-up HIV prevention approach, and had the potential of going beyond HIV and facilitating community-led health response.

 

Further, she added that the Eastern and Southern African region had made great progress in the AIDS response, adding that almost half of the 19 million living with HIV in the region were on life-saving antiretroviral therapy.

 

Professor Tlou further added that in order to ensure that more people knew their status in the region, a number of countries including Botswana as a front runner had moved to the universal test and treat model.

 

Kgosi Puso of Batlokwa said as tribal leaders, they had taken it upon themselves to join the community in the fight against HIV.

 

He said CATCH model gave the community the power to decide their destiny and fight challenges they were facing.

 

The CATCH model piloting started in 2015 in the South East region following recommendations from the 2012 National HIV Prevention Pitso in Francistown, which called for communities to initiate strategies to fight HIV. ENDS