Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association - October 25, 2006
Botswana is a Pepfar "focus country" and in 2006 has received $54 million for its fight against Aids. The US is the biggest contributor to HIV-Aids funding in Botswana apart from the government itself. The infant HIV testing programme is to address concerns about tracking the progress of babies born to HIV-infected women. Described as "very ambitious" by international Aids monitoring organisation AidsMap, the programme has been successfully piloted at 11 clinics and one referral hospital.
It enables HIV in babies to be diagnosed as early as six weeks after birth, using DNA collected through dried blood samples. The dried samples are stable, do not require refrigeration, and can be transported. Previously, the infants were tested at 18 months using enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay tests. By this time, many were already at an advanced stage of infection.
Botswana has highest rate of infections
Tests conducted last year by Botusa, a partnership between the Botswana government and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, suggested that early testing can lead to interventions in infected infants which enable control of the disease to levels of infection 80% less than without testing.
Botswana has one of the world's highest rates of HIV infection. The preliminary findings of the Botswana Aids Impact Survey indicated a 17.7% overall infection rate of the 1.7 million population, including 34.4% of the high economically active group of 25 to 49 year olds.
Citizens are entitled to free antiretroviral drugs. Pregnant women who test positive also get drugs to prevent them passing the infection o their unborn children.
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