Botswana: The Fifth Botswana AIDS Impact Survey ( BAIS V) was intended to assess the prevalence and incidence of HIV infection in the Botswana population, examine the distribution of HIV disease; assess the coverage and impact of HIV services at the population level; as well as characterise HIV related risk behaviours using a nationally representative sample of adults aged between 15 and 65.
Launching the survey report this morning, the Acting President of Botswana, Slumber Tsogwane, who is also the chairperson of the NAHPA Council, said the survey was carried out in 2021 when the nation was fighting COVID-19.
Acting President Slumber Tsogwane expressed gratitude for the support offered by the United States Government for playing an integral role in carrying out the survey.
He said the support was in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17, which accentuates more on strong global partnerships and cooperation for sustainable development.
Acting Minister Slumber Tsogwane said that through such collaborations, more understanding of HIV and AIDS was gained and that these partnerships afford countries opportunities to wisely utilise resources towards ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by the year 2030.
Giving an overview of the report, UMB Country Representative and BUMMHI Research Director Dr Lilian Okui said Botswana was well positioned to maintain the UNAIDS 95-95-95 target and end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. She also said the BAIS V provided critical data on the primary outcomes of HIV incidence among adults at national levels.
Dr Okui said the public health staff, programmers, epidemiologists and policy makers are encouraged to examine the BAIS V data for their respective program areas and utilise the data to inform programme planning.
The launch was attended by several other ministers like: the Minister for State President, Minister of Health, Chairperson of Ntlo ya Dikgosi, Senior government officials and other stakeholders.