Botswana
Botswana is ranked as one of nine southern African countries where more than 10 percent of the population is infected with HIV. The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates 23.9 percent of adults 15 to 49 years of age are HIV positive, but recent surveys show the rate of new infections could be slowing. Prevalence in both urban and rural areas decreased between 2001 and 2006, according to UNAIDS, and the percentage of 20- to 24-year-old antenatal clinic attendees who were HIV-infected fell from 38.6 percent in 2003 to 24.3 percent in 2009. As services for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV have been brought to scale, the annual number of new HIV infections among children declined fivefold between 1999 and 2007, from 4,600 to 890. All of these positive changes are indicative of success in curbing the epidemic.
In 2010, PEPFAR/Botswana and USAID/Botswana have supported initiatives in several critical areas, including civil society capacity building; prevention of sexual transmission of HIV; care and support, especially for orphans and vulnerable children; and gender. USAID-funded partners provide capacity building of local nongovernmental, faith-based, and community-based organizations to implement successful prevention programs among both the general population and several most-at-risk populations. These partners provide both technical assistance and grants and organizational management capacity building. Sustainable capacity building is also provided to the Government of Botswana through an activity that is transforming organization, staffing, and procedures of the Central Medical Stores to improve forecasting, procurement, and distribution of medicines and supplies, including laboratory supplies.
View the full USAID
HIV/AIDS Health Profile for Botswana - September 2010 [PDF,
176KB].
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