Good news: HIV/AIDS infection rate drops :: Mmegi Online

Although behaviour change continues to be a challenge, evidence shows that HIV infection rates are declining especially among the youth, Health Minister Sheila Tlou has said. Presenting her ministry's budget estimates in Parliament yesterday, Tlou explained that the most recent 2006 sentinel surveillance shows that HIV prevalence has decreased from 37.4 percent in 2003 to 32.4 percent last year.

"The highest reduction is amongst the youth," she said adding, "the difficulty in behaviour change is augmented by the fact that quite a considerable number of Batswana still do not know their HIV status," she said.

The Health Minister explained to the House that routine testing acceptance continues to increase as evidenced by the fact that out of 187, 935 offered testing, 178 176 (95 percent) tested as of December 2006 compared to 90 percent in 2005. Majority of those who tested were females at a proportion of 67 percent compared to the males at 33 percent.

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