02 Dec 2018

Botswana has made significant progress in the elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV, the Anti-Retro Viral programme, and voluntary medical safe male circumcision.

Speaking during the commemoration of the World AIDS Day in Mochudi on December 1, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV is below 1.4 per cent, the Anti-Retro Viral programme has an uptake of  84 per cent, while voluntary medical safe male circumcision was placed at 69 per cent in March 2018 from 44 per cent in 2015.

 He said since the world braced itself towards ending AIDS by 2030, Botswana was challenged to ensure that those who had tested positive should enroll in treatment and support those who were on treatment to have suppressed viral load.

The president said in 2016 government launched the Treat All Strategy to exemplify their commitment to the HIV/AIDS national reforms.

“By June 2018 statistics show that 88 per cent of those who participated in the survey knew their status, while 12 per cent did not, 84.4 per cent were on the life saving treatment while 94 per cent had their HIV suppressed.”

Dr Masisi also said the theme ‘Know Your Status’ calls on everyone to test and know their HIV status and their health holistically. He said such would help government to control new infections and create an HIV free generation. Further, he challenged all to know their blood pressure, sugar levels and body weight.

He added that according to the Botswana AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS 2013), 70 per cent of Botswana’s population aged between 10-64 have tested at least once for HIV compared to 56 per cent from the previous 2008 survey. 

The president said prevention would be prioritised through packaged targeted interventions for every segment of the population utilising community based or client oriented networks for service delivery and targeting geographic locations to ensure that services are directed to places of need. 

However, Dr Masisi expressed concern over the high national HIV prevalence rate, which he said stood at 18.5 per cent, making Botswana  the third most affected country globally. This, he said, was disturbing given that the country had a population of just over 2 million. 

He said the situation was compounded by new infections, especially among the young people and ‘this challenges us to reflect and interrogate what we are not doing right’.

The president further said that with the incident rate of 5.37 per cent and new HIV infections estimated at 10 000-14 000 per year, ‘the only indicator that will show that we are heading the right direction will be the time when we start recording zero HIV new infections. Batswana have endured pain and suffering and that chapter must be closed and not be allowed to reoccur,” said Dr Masisi 

Acting Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Biggie Butale said HIV testing in Botswana started in 1989 as a collaborative effort with UN’s Tebelopele Voluntary,  Counselling and Testing services which evolved to 16 centres country wide.

He said currently HIV testing services were offered in government facilities as well as private institutions such as BOFWA, BOCAIP and other community based testing services.

Mr Butale further said his ministry was undergoing restructuring as part of a wider government exercise and they were revitalising the primary healthcare approach to ensure community participation, equity in delivery of healthcare and synergies across departments. ENDS