06 Jun 2023

Botswana is a shining example as far as progress in HIV response is concerned, hence the National AIDS Council of Zimbabwe’s five-day benchmarking exercise with Botswana National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAHPA).

Speaking during the visit in Gaborone on Monday, Zimbabwe director of operations, Mr Raymond Yekeye said reports had demonstrated that Botswana had exceeded the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets. The strategy calls for 95 per cent of all people with HIV to be aware of their status, 95 per cent of those aware of their status to be on antiretroviral treatment (ART) and 95 per cent of those on ART to achieve viral load suppression by 2025.

He said described as awesome the fact that Botswana was reporting 95-98-98, saying that showed a tremendous progress towards achieving epidemic control, hence they came to learn so that Zimbabwe could improve as well.

Mr Yekeye further highlighted that they were here to enhance their knowledge, provoke further conversations, especially in regards to Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) and Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) that were managed through NAHPA.

He said they would like to learn how NAHPA transitioned from NACA to NAHPA in terms of HIV prevention and NCD control programming including the overall HIV governance policy and coordination structures.

“What also strikes us is the transition of NACA to NAHPA and how you incorporated NCDs,” he said, further pointing out that they would like to know how they could transform and make adjustments.

Throughout the five-day benchmarking exercise, the team will meet with different stakeholders managing HIV, including the Ministry of Health. Ends