Global Fund Injects $32M Into Botswana HIV/AIDS Fight

Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday February 8, 2016 15:28

Botswana, through the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP) has been allocated USD$ 32, 172, 960 million for a three year period (2016 to 2018). Such an amount has always triggered a scramble from the hopeless civil societies who have been fighting for survival as donors dried up after Botswana was classified a middle-income economy. From the USD$ 32, 172, 960 million has been set aside for malaria programme while the 27, 043,807million is to cover combined TB/HIV effort.

Speaking during the grant signing ceremony this week the minister of Health Dorcas Makgatho challenged the recipients of the grant to focus more on delivery to attain epidemic control of Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

 She said that this has been achieved given the country’s needs and past achievements in the fight against HIV/AIDS, which are in line with the Global Fund rules. Makgatho said that this therefore is a challenge to the country and the recipients to aim at achieving epidemic control.

“Botswana is readying for ‘Test and Treat’ strategy to ensure universal coverage and sustained treatment. The country still has high TB notification rate of over 300 per 100, 000 with a TB/HIV co-infection rate of over 60 percent,” she said. She challenged recipients to be efficient and focused to achieve zero local malaria transmission and elimination of malaria, to prevent new HIV infections, reduce morbidity and mortality as well as to enhance the psychological and economic impact associated with TB.

Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA), Botswana Christian AIDS Intervention Programme (BOCAIP), Kagisano Women Shelter and Tebelopele has been selected as the sub-recipients of the Global Fund funding.

Global Fund head of grant management Mark Edington said through these grants, tens of thousands of people should benefit from free access to prevention, care and treatment, giving them an opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives. He said that Botswana’s efforts to provide free ARVs and reproductive and sustainable health services to citizens are critical and have not gone unnoticed at Global Fund.

“I also very much appreciate the government’s commitment to mobilise domestic financing of US$363 million for HIV and US$60.5 million for Tuberculosis,” he said.

He said that while getting a grant could be easy, a lot of work lies ahead to achieve real impact. He said that the Global Fund fully support curative interventions to preventive care and challenged the civil societies to play a role to help government attain its goals.