Government must provide ARVs to foreign prisoners - High Court
Friday, August 22, 2014
“This court decision has affirmed that the government is legally obligated to immediately provide life-saving ARV treatment to foreign prisoners living with HIV. The court further affirmed that providing ARV treatment to all prisoners who need it is critical to effectively addressing HIV,” says Cindy Kelemi of the Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA), one of the applicants in the case.
In reaching its decision, the court highlighted the importance of ensuring that all prisoners have access to ARV treatment, not only for their own health, but also to protect other prisoners from acquiring HIV and other opportunistic infections, such as tuberculosis.
The recent Vaccination Day in Motokwe, orchestrated through collaborative efforts between UNICEF, USAID, BRCS, and the Ministry of Health, underscores a commendable stride towards fortifying child health services.The painful reality as reflected by the Ministry of Health's data regarding the decline in routine immunisation coverage since the onset of the pandemic, is a cause for concern.It underscores the urgent need to address the...