08 Sep 2022

The high number of teenage pregnancies and defilement cases in Lobatse is a major concern.

Opening the month of prayer against HIV/AIDS in Lobatse on Wednesday September 7, the district HIV/AIDS coordinator, Mr Letlhogela Malebe, said the recorded 33 cases of teenage pregnancies between April and June 2022 revealed the situation on the ground.

He said the cases involved young girls aged between 15 and 19 years, adding eight of them were defilement.

“The cases of defilement are being handled by the social welfare officers and the police officers in order for the culprits to be brought before the law,” he said.

Mr Malebe said all the eight cases of defilement involved secondary school pupils. He, therefore, appealed to community members to come together and pray for incidents of defilement and teenage pregnancy to subside in the town.   

On the issue of HIV/AIDS testing and prevention, Mr Malebe said the majority of the new cases of HIV positive people had been immediately enrolled on ARV treatment in the district.

He said 57 people tested positive for HIV between April and June from the 2 315 people who went for testing at various facilities.

“Fifty-five of those positive people were immediately enrolled for ARV treatment under the Treat All Programme, while two of them said they were not in a position to start taking ARVs. We are still talking to them about the benefits of starting the ARV treatment early,” he said

He said the number of people on ARV treatment in the district as of June 2022 was 5 854 and majority of them were adhering to the treatment programme.  

On the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT), Mr Malebe said the district had sadly registered one case of a newly born baby who contracted the virus from the mother. He said the mother had defaulted on taking the medication and consequently transmitted the virus to the baby.

“In tota,l there were 58 babies born to mothers under the PMTCT programme in the district and one tested positive to the virus after birth,” said the HIV/AIDS coordinator.

The month of prayer event, which was held at Woodhall kgotla, was organised by Botswana Christian Health and AIDS Intervention Program (BOCAIP), Lobatse Ministers Fraternal and other stakeholders.

BOCAIP monitoring and evaluation specialist, Dr Nankie Ramabu, said the month of prayer was a time to reflect on the fight against HIV, non-communicable diseases, gender-based violence and other societal challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is an annual event which provides a platform for individuals, communities, and churches to address these challenges. This is something that the Christian community has been doing faithfully for 26 years. We should therefore reflect and build on the effort that has been done,” she said.

She said the results of Botswana AIDS Impact Survey 2020 (BAIS) V showed that Botswana was doing well in the objective of reaching epidemic control. She however said more effort was still required to put virus transmission under manageable levels.

Lobatse BOCAIP programme coordinator Ms Patricia Ngwako said the objective of the month of prayer was to achieve a positive response in the effort of combating HIV and other health challenges. Ends