2 December 2008
President Ian Khama has expressed concern that the cost of providing anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) may be becoming unsustainable as the number of people on the programme increases.
In a speech to mark World AIDS Day commemorations in Selebi-Phikwe yesterday, Khama said the nation needs to understand the cost implication of the ARV programme.
Khama said the only sustainable way to help in the fight against HIV and AIDS would be to change behaviour, reduce the infection rate and the resultant number of people who need to get onto the programme.
The president said there are currently 113, 000 people on the ARV programme, a figure continuously rising and thus the cost of providing ARVs. He indicated that government currently foots 90 percent of the P1.4 billion bill for the ARV programme.
"I wish to reiterate that no amount of money ... can compensate for the need for greater commitment. This is especially so since this level of response is unsustainable in the face of other competing development imperatives. At this rate, continued progress cannot be guaranteed," he said.
Khama noted that if this increase continues by the year 2016 there will be about 220, 600 people enrolled, at a cost, he noted, that may not be affordable.
President Khama said the rollout of ARV therapy had averted 50,000 adult deaths by the end of 2007, which translates to 130,000 deaths to be averted by 2016.
He added that the success of the ARV treatment has reduced AIDS related mortality.
Khama urged individuals to play a role in the prevention of the disease.
"In my acknowledgement of our successes, I have intimated that drugs can do so much in saving our lives, but the rest can only be done by discipline.
I am concerned that so many years after we have offered free services, only about 60 percent of Batswana have tested (for HIV) to date," the President said.
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