Business Wire - September 19, 2003

The symposium is sponsored by the Government of Botswana and its public-private partnership, the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP). Sharing their experiences are speakers including:

-- Botswana's National AIDS Coordinator

-- A physician who will discuss first-hand experience in treating patients at the largest single antiretroviral treatment site in the world, the Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone

-- Behavioural change experts who will discuss how the use of private sector business tools is helping to promote positive behaviour change to reduce HIV/AIDS

-- A woman living with HIV who was recently voted "Miss HIV Stigma-Free" in a pageant designed to help decrease the stigma of HIV in Botswana

The speakers' remarks will be followed by a discussion moderated by Donald de Korte, M.D., Botswana-based Project Leader of ACHAP. ACHAP is a public-private partnership between the Government of Botswana, Merck & Co., Inc. /The Merck Company Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that is working to help the government achieve its goal of an AIDS-free generation through a comprehensive approach focused on prevention, care, treatment and support.

"Our aim at ICASA this week is to share lessons we're learning and the early successes we're achieving with others in Africa and other parts of the world who are determined to fight the epidemic," said Dr. de Korte. "We believe Botswana's recent progress may provide hope to other countries seriously impacted by HIV and AIDS."

Participants in the symposium and their topics are as follows:

Overview and National Strategic Framework - Banu Khan, M.D., M.P.H., National Coordinator, Public Health Specialist, National AIDS Coordinating Agency, Government of Botswana

Dr. Khan's presentation will focus on Botswana's new National Strategic Framework and the ways in which it outlines the specific roles and responsibilities for each sector of society. During the presentation, Dr. Khan will discuss how Botswana succeeded in attracting a number of innovative public and private sector partners to reinforce the government's response.

Segmentation for Behaviour Change Communication - Professor Sheila Tlou, Ph.D., University of Botswana, and Michael Cassell, Ph.D., National AIDS Coordinating Agency and ACHAP

The speakers will outline findings from a project that leverages the private sector skills of Botswana's public-private partnerships to address the HIV/AIDS public health crisis. In partnership with the Monitor Group, this project uses advanced techniques in market segmentation to identify behaviour change communications that will be most effective in reaching targeted groups within society. The project was conducted on the campus of the University of Botswana.

Teacher Capacity Building Project - Rose Mandevu, Project Officer, United Nations Development Project

In collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme and ACHAP, the Botswana Ministry of Education launched the Teacher Capacity Building Project in March 2003. As part of the program a weekly television program is broadcast live on Botswana Television using panel discussions, live call-ins and other tools to provide schoolteachers with the information they need to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the classroom. All schools have been equipped with a television, video player, satellite dish and a decoder in order to allow all teachers to participate in the program. Ms. Mandevu will outline the challenges and early successes of the Teacher Capacity Building Project.

Botswana's Civil Society Response: The Small Grants Program - Beauty Mogosha, Director and Founder of the Nkaikela Youth Project

In an effort to capitalize on the creativity of organizations across the country, a Small Grants Program was established in Botswana to identify innovative grassroots approaches to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The program, which is coordinated by the Botswana Network of AIDS Service Organization with support from ACHAP, provides grants of up to BWP 50,000 (about $7,500 U.S. dollars) to support community-based activities. Ms. Mogosha, a grant recipient, will describe how her project helps former commercial sex workers gain career-building skills so that they can take control of their lives, both economically and socially.

Lessons Learned from Masa - Botswana's National Antiretroviral (ARV) Programme -- Tendani Gaolathe, Co-director, Infectious Disease Care Clinic, Princess Marina Hospital, Gaborone

Since Botswana's national ARV programme called Masa was launched in January 2002 with the opening of the first treatment site at the Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, more than 11,000 people have enrolled in this groundbreaking programme. Dr. Gaolathe will present her experiences and lessons learned, focusing on capacity challenges, patient experiences and general observations from Africa's first national ARV programme.

Profile of Kgalalelo Ntsepe -- Woman living with HIV recently voted Botswana's "Miss HIV Stigma-Free 2003"

A beneficiary of the national ARV programme, Ms. Ntsepe will recount her experiences as a young woman living with HIV/AIDS in Botswana and discuss her current work to help break down the stigma of HIV/AIDS. Bedridden in 2001, Miss Ntsepe took an HIV test and enrolled in the Masa ARV programme. She was recently voted Botswana's Miss HIV Stigma-Free 2003 in a beauty pageant organized recently for HIV-positive women and their relatives as an example to other people -- to encourage them to get tested and to break the stigma of HIV.

About ICASA

The ICASA conference, to be held Sept. 21-26, will bring together international experts in HIV/AIDS programming under the theme of "access to care." It provides an opportunity for governments, international organizations civil society and People Living with HIV and AIDS to collectively share success and challenges experienced.

About ACHAP

ACHAP is a partnership between the Government of Botswana, Merck & Co., Inc./The Merck Company Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Tel: (+267) 3933842, Fax: (+267) 3933507. Postal Address: Private Bag X033, Gaborone, Botswana. Physical Address: Unit 1, Plot 115, Millennium Office Park, Gaborone; www.achap.org

CONTACT: ACHAP

Beulah Emig (+267) 723 11750

Brad Ryder (+267) 713 15254

SOURCE: ACHAP

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