But former president Festus Mogae launched a successful anti-AIDS drive that stemmed the rising tide.
As Mogae was fighting AIDS, some unscrupulous characters took advantage of the situation. It was easy for four - five or six people to come together and form a group and associate themselves with the AIDS fight and have access to funds. AIDS organisations mushroomed everywhere and were immediately provided with funds from either government or international donors. People drove expensive cars, slept in five star hotels and dined and wined in the name of fighting AIDS.
Of course there were those organisations that genuinely fought HIV/AIDS. But to others it was a booming industry.
It was easy for anybody to write a song, a poem, or compile crap into a book about AIDS with government sponsorship. During the time anybody could come forward and say "I tested positive many years ago and I'm living positively". They could get media coverage and be on TV almost every evening. They were included in the President's delegation in his international trips overseas as part of evidence that Botswana citizens were indeed, faced with extinction.
