05 Jun 2025

The United States Deputy Chief of Mission to Botswana, Ms Allyson McCollum Algeo has praised Tebelopelo Wellness Centre (TWC) for delivering essential healthcare services to the community.

Speaking at the Tebelopelo Silver Jubilee commemoration and rebrand ceremony in Gaborone on Tuesday, Ms McCollum Algeo said for the past 25 years, the institution had consistently risen to meet new and evolving health needs of communities in Botswana, offering lifesaving care across ages. 

She said Tebelopele continued to be a pillar in the HIV national response in Botswana and became a centre of excellence. 

Ms McCollum Algeo further said efforts had been targeted to key and priority populations vulnerable to HIV and this had been a huge part of Tebelopele’s work. 

“Through deploying innovative and non-conventional service delivery methods, TWC has been able to reach the hard to reach and most vulnerable, closing gaps and contributing substantially towards reaching epidemic control,” she said. 

Ms McCollum Algeo also said the support of government led to the extension of services from streamlined HIV testing to comprehensive community-based prevention, which encompassed a variety of non-communicable diseases. 

She further said efforts had been targeted to key population vulnerable to HIV. 

Ms McCollum Algeo said Botswana-United States of America (BOTUSA) collaborative initiative, played a crucial role in implementing health interventions and research initiatives that targeted prevention, treatment and care. 

She said BOTUSA was known for evidence-based practices and integration of health research findings into public health strategies. For his part, National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAHPA), non-communicable diseases manger, Mr Nonofo Leteane said 360 000 Batswana were living with HIV with 20 000 females over 15 years of age. 

He said young girls and women were most affected leaving the future of women bleak. Mr Leteane said with the little resources, Tebelopele had achieved a lot providing tests and HIV services to the nation. He further said Tebelopele evolved with time, as they addressed pertinent emerging health priorities like non-communicable diseases. 

“We are told that if nothing is done with regard to the burden of NCDs in the next five years, the burden will be 10 times more than it is right now and we do not want to see ourselves getting into that and appreciate that issues of NCDs are also addressed,” he said. 

Mr Leteane said Tebelopele established a men’s clinic to access HIV services in Molepolole seeing that men were poor at health seeking behaviour.  

Tebelopele Board Member, Ms Ludo Sefako said the centre had revolutionised and provided a lot of services as they believed health was holistic. 

She said their evolution had kept them relevant and they were proud of the changes they made. 

Tebelopele was opened in 2000 and mandated to test for HIV and has recently introduced four businesses including Tebelopele College through which it generates funding. ENDS