AEGiS-IRIN: BOTSWANA: Government to provide free HIV/AIDS drug

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

BOTSWANA: Government to provide free HIV/AIDS drug

Integrated Regional Information Networks - August 11, 2000

JOHANNESBURG, 10 August (IRIN) - President Festus Mogae of Botswana has said that his government would provide free HIV/AIDS drugs at public health facilities for people living with the disease. Addressing the women's wing of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party, Mogae said that with the financial support of international organisations like the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation, the government would soon purchase the drugs and make them available in clinics, dispensaries and hospitals. The drugs would be issued free since the majority of people could not afford to buy them. The president added that it is not helpful to disown or dispute Botswana's alarming HIV/AIDS statistics. A forthcoming UNDP report says that Botswana's HIV/AIDS prevalence rate has reached 36 percent of the population.
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