US ambassador cautions against discrimination
Boniface Keakabetse | Monday March 27, 2017 16:49
He said the discrimination against sex workers and the lesbian, gay, and transgender community has affected the communities’ practice of botho, which undergirds Botswana’s Vision 2016 pillars.
Miller was officiating during a New Directions seminar at Maun Lodge on Wednesday. New Directions seminars seek to explore relationships with entire communities as partners in the HIV response and are founded through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The seminars are held in partnership with District Multi Sectoral AIDS committees who manage HIV response and Centre for Investigative Journalism which brings media outlets.
Miller explained that PEPFAR has been funding the LINKAGES project in Maun and its catchment areas in order to strengthen local capacity to deliver health services to female sex workers (FSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM.)
He said LINKAGES project is also operating in Kasane, Selebi-Phikwe, Francistown, and Gaborone.
Miller added: “infact, LINKAGES is part of a regional network of PEPFAR partners serving key populations in Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and others throughout Southern and East Africa”.
Miller further underscored that research has shown there is a critical need for intensified and targeted services for these groups in order to prevent new HIV infections and link individuals to treatment.
According to Miller, some of the interesting research findings are that: HIV prevalence in female sex workers was 65%, versus 20.8% of women overall.
In 2016, the Botswana Incidence Pattern Model reported that female sex workers contribute eight percent of all new HIV infections.
Further, it was discovered that only 13% of HIV positive men who have sex with men have begun antiretroviral therapy, compared with 65% treatment coverage for all HIV positive men.
The ambassador attested that targeted interventions for key populations are crucial to making progress in implementing the UNAIDS global strategy to achieve HIV epidemic control, commonly known as the 90-90-90 goals.
These are: 90 percent of people living with HIV test are diagnosed; 90 percent of those who are diagnosed are put on lifelong antiretroviral treatment; and 90 percent of those on treatment remain virally suppressed.
PEPFAR communications Officer John Payne said the US government has contributed more than P 7.9 Billions to Botswana to fight HIVAIDS since 2004.
He explained that PEPFAR is a global largest commitment in history by any Government donor to fight a single disease.
During a panel discussion titled, ‘Inclusion and exclusion: A closer eye at the various experiences of LGBT people’, panelists from LGBT complained that their community faced discrimination at the health services.
They called for specific strategies that will ensure LGBT community can easily access care at health centres on issues of HIV/AIDS.