First the not-so-good news:
Despite the noble goal in the Botswana 2016 Vision Statement of wanting no new infections by 2016, the survey showed that in reality, in a population of 2 million, Botswana has approx 10,000 new HIV infections every year!
The overall Prevalence rate has increased from 17.5% to 18.5%, with the rate among women aged 35-39 almost 51%!
Then the good news:
The infection rate among young adults aged 20-29 is going down. (Among 20-24 year olds it is 10 percent down from 12 percent in 2008, and among 25-29 year olds it is 21% down from 26% in 2008)
Maybe its unrelated but it might be just possible that the Face The Nation Program of Open Baptist Church here in Gaborone that has been having specific HIV prevention programs into the Senior Secondary Schools right across the country (approx 16-19 year olds) for about 8 years, has been part of the impact. (it includes an annual 3 weeks in every school mid-year and an all-year presence in a few schools). Right now they are in the midst of the annual mid-year program and would value your prayers.
The death rate from AIDS has also decreased due to the availability of free ARV drugs, and this includes many babies that are born HIV free, who would otherwise be infected from birth and usually die as young children.
Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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