11 Jul 2013

Government has taken the war against new HIV infections head on and is determined to register zero infections by 2016.

Giving a keynote address at the handing over of a mobile clinic truck to the Ministry of Health in Letlhakeng on July 10, the Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Dr Gloria Somolekae said despite the resolution, government was still concerned that 15 000 new infections were registered countrywide annually.

She said this was a cause for concern, especially that HIV/AIDS gobbled over P1 billion of the government budget annually and this affected the general development of the country as projects across the country had to be put on hold to prioritise on HIV/AIDS.

She said the mobile clinics would come in handy especially that they were designed to access hard to reach areas where poor roads had been a challenge in delivering health services to the rural populace. 

“This mobile clinic is part of a total of five across the country and they are equipped with water and generate own power. We are expecting them to be fit with incinerators in the near future to make them more complete,” she said.

 Dr Somolekae also appreciated the efforts by US government for aiding the acquisition of the trucks, together with ACHAP for their long time support of the Botswana government in its HIV/AIDS war.

Accepting the mobile clinics, the Assistant Minister of Health, Mr Gaotlhaetse Matlhabaphiri said Letlhakeng District Health Management Team was among  districts that had been providing integrated health services under serious constraints such as limited space and shortage of transport.

“We are therefore grateful for the gesture of the National AIDS Coordinating Agency through the Botswana HIV/AIDS Prevention Support by availing a mobile clinic that will assist us to address some of the challenges mentioned above,” he said.

Mr Matlhabaphiri said he had no doubt that the mobile clinics would reinforce the country’s efforts in providing quality integrated services to the community, and urged the Letlhakeng community and its surroundings to utilise the mobile clinic.

For her part, the Director of the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care, Dr Refeletswe Lebelonyane said the five mobile clinics were part of a larger effort to take HIV/AIDS war to the people.

Dr Lebelonyane also said the mobile clinics would not only focus on safe male circumcision, but would also be used to offer services such as HIV/AIDS counselling as well as cervical cancer screening. The five trucks were procured at a total of around P11.5 million. ENDS