01 Dec 2021

 Government is exploring the use of global fund pooled procurement mechanism to enable Botswana to reduce the cost of HIV treatment by up to 50 per cent, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has said.

In his speech marking World AIDS Day in Good Hope yesterday, President Masisi said the decision to use the mechanism was necessitated by results of a study showing that Botswana needed to reduce the cost of its HIV programme.

“This will help reduce the financial burden that comes with enrolling more HIV positive people on treatment taking into consideration that HIV treatment has yielded tangible results that include significant reduction in AIDS related deaths and mother to child transmission,” he said.

Conducted in September by Ministry of Health and Wellness in conjunction with National Aids & Health Promotions Agency (NAHPA) with USAID support, the study looked at ways the country could improve efficiency of funding health services, in particular HIV. 

Dr Masisi said though the disease was still a major concern, Botswana had made some positive strides in controlling the pandemic.

Quoting the Botswana AIDS Impact Survey (BAIS) V, the President noted the remarkable progress the country had made in controlling the pandemic by exceeding the 90-90-90 UNAIDS set targets.

“Results from the study demonstrated that of the HIV positive people aged between 15 and 64 years, 93.2 per cent are aware of their status, with 97.9 per cent of those who know their status being enrolled on treatment. Of those on treatment, 98 per cent have achieved viral suppression,” he said. 

He thanked former president Dr Festus Mogae for his selfless leadership and commitment to fight the disease during his tenure.

“Mr Mogae did a sterling job because back then the pandemic was at its peak and he was faced with a mammoth task of finding donors which greatly helped,” he said.

Notwithstanding the achievements, President Masisi stressed that prevention remained important to curb the spread of HIV.

He said the theme,  End Inequalities - End AIDS - End Pandemics, which was derived from the 2021-2026 global AIDS strategy emphasising the importance of evidence-based priority actions and target setting, resonated well with government’s commitment to effectively prevent HIV.

Government, he said,  would continue to stress the importance of prevention methods targeting marginalised groups such as female sex workers, adolescents and young women, people with disabilities, prisoners and same sex couples.

Noting that this was the 31st World AIDS Day commemoration and 40 years since the first patient was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Botswana, President Masisi said had it not been for the resilience of the human spirit, the world could not have made much progress against the disease.

Earlier, UN resident coordinator Mr Zia Choudhury said the world still needed more education about HIV/AIDS as the fight against the disease was far from over.

Mr Zia labelled HIV a pandemic of inequalities saying the disease affected women on many occasions because they had limited decision making powers on sex-related issues resulting in gender-based violence (GBV).

In his welcome remarks, Kgosi Lotlaamoreng II concurred with Mr Zia that GBV was one of the key drivers of HIV.

Kgosi Lotlaamoreng said empowering women to have a say in sexual matters and mutual respect would help Botswana win the fight against HIV.

According to the BAIS V report,  Good Hope Sub-district HIV prevalence rate stands at 20.3 per cent with females at 25.7 per cent and males at 8.9 per cent.

The total number of people currently on ARVs is 4 784 with 44 of them also co-infected with TB.

Among the dignitaries who graced the occasion were First Lady Neo Masisi, Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration Mr Kabo Morwaeng and Minister of Local Government and Rural Development also area MP Mr Eric Molale.ends