02 Dec 2021

 Botswana has become the first high-burden HIV country to get WHO recognition for achieving an important milestone towards the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

As one of the countries with more than two per cent of pregnant women living with the virus and therefore classified as high-burden, Botswana has achieved  “silver tier” status, which moves it closer to eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission.

Receiving the award in Gaborone yesterday, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said it was testimony to the success of Botswana’s efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV as well as motivation for the country to work even harder in pursuit of the elimination agenda.

President Masisi said being awarded the certificate was a historic moment as it marked one of the country’s greatest milestones in HIV/AIDS prevention.

Noting that the country had been battling the HIV/AIDS pandemic for countless years, the recognition from WHO was testament that government’s efforts were not in vain.

The President stated that Botswana made a deliberate decision several years ago to devote a large portion of the national budget to the fight against HIV/AIDS encompassing free anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy to all citizens, offering free ARVs to all Botswana residents as well as to all pregnant women through the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme.

All of the mentioned decisions, according to President Masisi, saved many lives and were a giant step forward in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The President said Botswana was on course to fully eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV as well as syphilis due to pioneering the PMTCT programme over 20 years ago.

President Masisi said due to its HIV programmes, Botswana was able to reduce HIV prevalence of mothers from a staggering 37 per cent to the current five per cent.

He applauded health workers for their resilience and dedication to duty in the fight against HIV/AIDS as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I also wish to thank our partners, the WHO, the UN family, PEPFAR and the US Government for having been with us through this journey including the civil society, private sector and our friends and allies from the international community have also been supportive both financially and technically,” the President said.

President Masisi also praised former president Dr Festus Mogae for his stellar and outstanding contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS and for being a trendsetter globally.

For her part, WHO regional director for Africa, Dr Matshediso Moeti applauded President Masisi for his sound and visionary leadership which led to the country receiving an award of such magnitude.

“This ground breaking milestone is a big step forward in ending AIDS on the continent and shows how visionary political leadership aligned with public health priorities can save lives. I look forward to other African countries also reaching this goal,” Dr Moeti said.

She described the award as a huge accomplishment for Botswana which had one of the most severe HIV epidemics in the world  noting that in 1999 the country faced an HIV prevalence rate as high as 30 per cent.

The country, she said, had demonstrated that an AIDS-free generation was possible.

Dr Moeti further said Botswana’s feat was the result of a national response strategy spanning two decades which entailed an aggressive programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

Giving the background, Dr Moeti said UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO and other partners created a Global Validation Advisory Committee to standardise the measurement of achievements for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in 2015.

A new path to elimination criteria was introduced two years later in recognition of achievements made by countries with a high HIV burden that demonstrated significant and sustained reductions in the mother-to-child transmission rate, she explained adding that the agenda had expanded to "triple elimination" of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B transmission from mother-to-child. Ends