Nasha takes swipe at Khama�s HIV policy
Gothataone Moeng | Thursday April 17, 2014 15:52
Speaking at the just ended Eminent Women’s Dialogue gathering, Nasha, a senior member of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party, said Botswana is yet to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other communicable diseases, as it does not provide universal access to treatment. She said there are still groups in Botswana, such as homosexuals, foreign prisoners and refugees, who are unable to access HIV treatment.
The Speaker told the UNFPA hosted meeting, going under the theme ‘Building the Future- Accelerating Gender Equality for the Post-2015 Development’, that Botswana has been unable to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS. She said that this was due largely to the campaign against HIV losing its vigour. The country’s HIV prevalence rate currently stands at 17.6 percent.
“There was once a time when a minister was not allowed to address a Kgotla meeting without talking about HIV. Now people talk about everything except HIV,” Nasha said.
Once one of the countries hardest-hit by the HIV epidemic, Botswana garnered international praise for its response to the epidemic, being one of the first countries in the world to implement a comprehensive HIV/AIDS strategy which positioned the epidemic as not just a health problem, but a national and development issue.
Under the leadership of former president Festus Mogae Botswana became, in the early 2000s, the first African country to avail free anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs to all those who needed it through the public health service. However, according to the Botswana ICPD Country Report 2013, the HIV prevalence and incidence rate still remain high, with females particularly susceptible to infection.
“The incidence rate shows new infection of HIV in the population. The age pattern of HIV incidence rates closely mirrors the pattern of prevalence rates. These rates start off low among adolescents and teenagers, peaks during the productive and reproductive ages (25-49 years) and then declines,” the report states.
Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and intersexes groups are particularly vulnerable to infections, activists argue, as they are unable to access HIV prevention information and tools due to stigma and discrimination from healthcare workers.
Government is still reluctant to provide condoms to prisoners, arguing that doing so would be abetting in the violation of Botswana laws, which criminalise homosexuality. Mogae has also urged for the decriminalisation of homosexuality to facilitate the effective fighting of new HIV infections.
Recently, the High Court rescinded its judgement in which it had ruled that foreign prisoners could be given free ARVs.