Follow the leader

Tuesday, 01 September 2009 11:05

There was a time when “AIDS” meant “multiple forms of help, support or assistance”. In a country such as Botswana, “AIDS” has become synonymous with a pandemic that is ravaging an entire nation. There has not yet been a more desperate cry for help. And in Botswana, it is an emergency. Speaking at a United Nations Assembly in 2001, former Botswanan President Festus Mogae said, “We [the people of Botswana] are threatened with extinction. People are dying in chillingly high numbers. It is a crisis of the first magnitude.” Botswana has the second highest rate of HIV and AIDS infections in the world. Second only to Swaziland, an astounding number of people are living with the disease, resulting in a devastating effect on the economy and society as a whole. Of a population of less than two million people, it is estimated that some 300 000 people are living with HIV and AIDS. The first case of HIV in Botswana was reported in 1985. By 1987, the government embarked on an aggressive, three-phase strategy to respond to the growing number of infections. The first phase focused on blood screening to prevent infections from blood transfusions. From 1989 to 1997, the second phase, also known as the Medium Term Plan (MTP), started introducing information about the disease, education, and communication programmes. When the second phase’s reach was deemed too narrow, the government adopted the Botswana National Policy on AIDS in 1993 as the third phase to combat the disease – the MTP II. Since 1997, the MTP II has been designed to take a holistic approach to manage the crisis, encompassing education, preventative and comprehensive care and the provision of anti-retroviral (ARV) medication. As the first African country to gain independence from colonial rule in 1966, Botswana is in danger of losing the developmental gains it has achieved, namely economic growth, political stability, and the establishment of a functioning public education and healthcare system. MTP II remains an ongoing effort to reduce the number of infections and transmissions, as well as diminishing the impact that HIV and AIDS has on society at all levels. Statistics in Botswana reveal that society is being impacted on all levels. Life expectancy fell from 65 years between 1990 and 1995, to just 40 years between 2000 and 2005. In a study conducted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), it is estimated that 20% of the children in Botswana will be orphans – a powerful indication of the impact of HIV and AIDS on families and greater society in Botswana. The impact of HIV on the economy has also been severe. Between 1999 and 2005, Botswana lost approximately 17% of its healthcare workforce because of AIDS, and by 2020 it is estimated that 20% of the agricultural labour force will also be lost to the pandemic. To date, the sectors worst affected by HIV and AIDS are the agricultural and mining industries. While the devastating effect of HIV and AIDS takes hold of the economy, education and healthcare systems, the people of Botswana have the added burden of poverty, a residual side effect that goes hand in hand with HIV and AIDS. Desperate times have called for desperate measures and Botswana has had to take the lead when it comes to providing an example to other African countries faced with a similar outcome. The prevalence of HIV and AIDS has mobilised the country to initiate a number of programmes to try and reverse the devastating effects. In 1999, the National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA) was formed to ensure that a suitable response to HIV and AIDS was being carried out at a national level. The National Strategic Framework was implemented in 2003 to guide that strategy until 2009. Funded by a combination of government, the private sector and donations, Botswana has set the precedent for one of the continent’s most comprehensive programmes of HIV prevention, treatment and care. All contributing to the whole, a number of different HIV prevention programmes have been initiated and include: public education and awareness; education for young people; condom distribution and education; targeting high risk adult populations, improvement of blood safety and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT). Delivering the right message to the right people has been key to disseminating HIV and AIDS programmes in Botswana. The Total Community Mobilization programme focuses on taking education to the doorsteps of the people relying more heavily on interpersonal communication than billboard messages and advertising. The Youth Health Organisation (YOHO), a non-governmental and youth-run organisation, aims to bring the message of HIV to young people – in particular young women, who outnumber the rate of young men infected by HIV more than two to one. In an effort to demystify and destigmatise HIV and AIDS to teachers, the UNDP – together with the Ministry of Education and the Government of Brazil with the support of the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP) – have produced an interactive AIDS education programme broadcast on Botswana television. The success of the condom distribution and education programme is in part due to the joint efforts by the government and ACHAP which, in 2003, launched an extensive condom distribution campaign. The fact that millions of condoms have been made use of by free distribution is proof that condom usage has increased substantially in Botswana. As the first African country to propose an ambitious ARV policy, Botswana has been providing ARV medication to the public free of charge. As part of the overall programme to treat HIV and AIDS, ARVs were introduced with the reasoning that provision of the drugs would enable people living with HIV to live longer, healthier lives. Also, to decrease the number of children orphaned every year because of HIV and AIDS; to offer incentive for HIV testing and lower the rate of transmissions; and finally, to maintain the skills necessary in the workforce to grow economically. As a result MASA, the national ARV therapy programme, was adopted in January 2002. By specifically addressing those in dire need of treatment, effectively communicating the HIV and AIDS message and acknowledging and facing the challenges that have presented themselves, has made Botswana a country that has set the standard for how to effectively contest HIV and AIDS in Africa. Collectively, the programmes implemented in Botswana have brought the message not only to the people but now to the rest of the world. As the 2009 host of the International AIDS Impact Conference, Botswana continues to pursue an HIV/AIDS-free society. The conference, aimed at developing countries, is devoted to the human and social sciences in the field of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Continuously in the struggle against the spread and treatment of HIV, Botswana is proof that helping itself is helping others... the only aids necessary on a continent plagued with a disease for which there is no known cure.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 September 2009 11:17