The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world has risen from around eight million in 1990 to 33 million today, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr. Koolaatema Malefho has said.

He was speaking at the World Health Organisation Sub-Regional workshop in Gaborone yesterday. The theme of the three day workshop is: 'Strengthening linkages between Sexual Reproductive Health (SHR) and HIV: Sharing evidence and best practices". It has brought together health officials from the region.

Malefho said according to the UNAIDS/WHO, around 67% of people living with HIV are in the Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa has 11.6 million orphans. He added that it is critical to identify interventions that will ensure realisation of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) especially those on improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases by 2015.

Malefho said the rationale for building linkages or integrations includes the reality that sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS programmes both serve the same population composed of sexually active men and women and the elderly. "Both promote safe and responsible sexual behaviour, have the potential to increase dual protection and condom use and a coordinated response to reproductive health," he said.

Malefho added that the initiates tackle problems sharing the same root causes such as poverty, gender inequality, stigma and discrimination, family disintegration and marginalisation of vulnerable groups. He said the majority of HIV infections and sexual and reproductive health problems are related to sex and sexuality. "It is important to note that HIV/AIDS is still not well understood. In the beginning HIV needed specific individual attention hence it was justifiable to single it out on its own," he said. He stated that there are many international commitments and policies emphasising the need for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support as well as access to sexual and reproductive health. "What is worth noting is that scaling up effective and comprehensive services that address sexual and reproductive needs such as HIV testing, treatment, care and support indeed address universal access for both," Malefho said.