Global AIDS - Botswana

Botswana faces critical challenges
Botswana Press Agency (BOPA) - 30 April, 2004

GABORONE - President Festus Mogae says Botswana is facing some critical challenges in combating the HIV/AIDS scourge.

The president was speaking at a dinner he hosted for Friends of the Harvard School of Public Health at Phakalane Hotel Resort on Wednesday. Mogae said shortage of human resources, stigma, infrastructure and sustainability were critical challenges that Botswana faced in its fight against the pandemic. The insufficiency of skilled personnel across the entire health sector has become more recognisable as the country rolls out the anti retroviral (ARV) therapy, he said.

Mogae noted that stigma has been an obstacle to HIV testing and programme uptake such as Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT). "While we are certainly concerned about the effect of stigma on our overall HIV/AIDS interventions, we are at the same time optimistic that this is a challenge which we can overcome," said Mogae. He said last year, government introduced routine HIV testing with consent in public health facilities. The public response has been encouraging since there has been a veritable increase in the size of queues at health facilities, said Mogae.

Although this development has disadvantages, Mogae said overall it was "positive" and highly welcome.

President Mogae regretted that the pandemic has overwhelmingly pressurised the health delivery system. He said since a large number of patients were suffering from HIV related illnesses, the infrastructure that could be used to mount an effective ARV treatment programme was already overstretched. At the end of February this year, 19 675 patients had been assessed for treatment in 11 sites and 17 799 are already on ARV treatment.

He said between now and March next year, government intended to roll out the programme to 32 sites throughout the country. "Because of the resources required to establish the necessary infrastructure, this therefore is a major challenge." On sustainability, Mogae pointed out that the cost of ARV drugs in the public sector was estimated at P100 million and continued to rise annually as more patients enrolled in the programme.

Government, he said, has committed itself to respond to HIV/AIDS without necessarily compromising development projects and other aspects of health service delivery. Regarding the visit, Mogae said: "We derive courage and strength from our common humanity with the nations of the world and your presence here is a practical demonstration of this reality".