Cultural, religious barriers hinder fight against HIV/AIDS

Speaking at PERFAR Botswana and INK Centre for investigative Journalism’s media training workshop on health in Mogoditshane recently, Catherine Chirwa, a public health specialist said even though some mothers enroll for Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme immediately after being diagnosed as HIV positive, they were facing a huge setback in getting zero mother-to-child transmission.

She said some mothers refuse to take medication because their pastors forbid them to do that as they tell them that a prayer and God could heal the epidemic.