NACA stats call for cautious optimism

| Friday October 25, 2013 15:56

This was the period during which former President Festus Mogae’s government was engaged in a battle with the HIV/AIDS scourge that threatened to wipe out the human race if something was not done as a matter of urgency. Lest we forget too quickly, this was a time when Botswana had the terrible distinction of having the highest infection rate of the world’s worst disease ever. But Mogae was unfazed, travelling the world over to raise the clarion call for help. Partly owing to his clarity of purpose and statesmanship and partly due to the essential magnanimity of humanity, the international community responded with generosity, extending a helping hand to a nation teetering on a precipice. Indeed, his work had salutary effect on the rest of the African continent as the world cast its attention wider.

NACA also revealed that during the same period (2001-2011), our country made great strides in reducing mother-to-child transmission of the murderous virus, which was part of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were set for 2015. But we must keep vigil, lest complacency sets after we hear these statistics. Indeed, the precautionary measures that have brought us to this sanguine point must be improved upon in order to keep the new infections at bay while we pursue a cure. The government continues to spend billions of pula in procurement of Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARVs) to keep us alive while research in finding a cure is apace. In the meantime, our personal conduct – one and all – is the elixir of life.

We take this opportunity to encourage our brothers and sisters on treatment to comply with the prescriptions that come with the drugs. We also appeal to those in positions of leadership to adopt exemplary lifestyles because young people look up to them.  We hope that NACA and its partners will continue the good work they have done over the years to encourage people to change thir mindset on the number of partners one may have. Our sisters who have taken care of the sickly through the Home Based Care have also demonstrated the charity of caring, in some instances even for people with whom they did not have any blood relationship. As we travel this journey, it is our hope that African governments will find ways for their traditional doctors to work hand in hand with medical researchers and doctors who have advanced technologies. We hope that our governments will also work hard to at once protect and advance the indigenous knowledge of their peoples as the world comes closer to finding a cure for AIDS.

                                                Today’s thought

“HIV does not make people dangerous to know, so you can shake their hands and give them a hug: Heaven knows they need it.”

 

                                                        – Princess Diana