Africa-Press – Botswana. The battle against HIV is an ever-evolving one and government is committed to staying at the forefront of medical advancements.
Addressing the HIV/TB Summit in Francistown on Tuesday, Minister of Health, Dr Edwin Dikoloti as part of the 2023 Botswana HIV Clinical Care Guidelines, Botswana has embraced a transformative leap in HIV care through the adop[tion of the long acting Antiretroviral injectables, specifically Cabotegravir and Rilpivirine.
He said the medications have already been registred with BoMRA.
“The Central Medical Stores has also embarked on the procurement process of the injectables. It is taking time to avail them in the country, due to their unavailability in the market,” he said.
Despite this temporary setback, he said, the transformative decision represents a paradigm shift in our quest to provide effective, accessible and patient-centric HIV care.
The minister also noted implementation of birth DNA-PCR testing for HIV-exposed babies, an innovation which ‘exemplifies our determination to ensure prompt HIV diagnosis and early treatment’.
He said Botswana was one of the few countries that were regarded as a model of care in providing HIV/AIDS services. “We have indeed made impactful strides in different areas of fighting the scourge. As you may be aware, Botswana was one of the first countries to achieve the 95-95-95 UNAIDS targets in 2021,” said Dr Dikoloti
The Minister explained that in recognition of these efforts to reducing the spread of HIV from mothers to their unborn children, Botswana started as the first high HIV burden country to be certified for Silver Tier for the ‘Path to Elimination’ of vertical transmission of HIV in 2021.
Dr Dikoloti thus emphasised the need for targeted interventions to address the issue, including increased access to testing and treatment for men.
He explained that to date, 343 914 people in Botswana were estimated to be living with HIV among whom 320 774 were on ARVs.
“Despite these relatively high HIV/AIDS burden in our country, HIV/AIDS related deaths have declined from 4 609 in 2021 to 3 800 in 2022. UNAIDS reports show us that as at 2022, new HIV infections were at around 4 320 and this shows that our country is moving well towards epidemiological control in line with United Nations targets of eliminating HIV by 2030,” added the Minister.
Dr Dikoloti, stressed the importance of making informed and timely decisions in order to achieve the goal of eliminating HIV/AIDS by 2036.
He noted that the disease had taken the lives of millions of people, and that prompt and accurate action was needed to prevent further loss of life.
He called for a renewed focus on data driven decision making and evidence based interventions to accelerate progress towards this goal.
An interventionist from World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tebogo Madidimalo said opportunities that could help accelerate the fight against the disease in Botswana included expanding access to HIV testing and treatment, increasing awareness about the importance of early diagnosis, and strengthening partnerships with local communities to address stigma and discrimination.
He also stressed the importance of promoting safe and healthy behaviours, such as consistent condom use and regular testing.
He said incidences of new infections were higher among men, suggesting that they were not receiving the necessary information, resources, and treatment.
“It is critical that we develop gender sensitive interventions to address this disparity and ensure that everyone has access to the care and treatment they need,” he added.
Dr Madidimalo believed that, with the right interventions, it was possible to eliminate HIV/AIDS as a public health threat, similar to how other deadly diseases like smallpox and polio have been eradicated in the past.
DAILYNEWS
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