EARLY HIV testing is the key entry point for all actual and potential interventions such as treatment, support and prevention, the Masa Antiretroviral Therapy Program Manager, Dr Ernest Darkoh has said. Speaking at the beginning of a two-day workshop of the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa (CHGA) in Gaborone on Monday, Darkoh said it was the seriously ill who come forward for treatment first. He said they overwhelm the capacity of the health services and hence there is a need to split the queues for the seriously ill and those who have come for normal treatment.
He said most individuals still did not know their HIV status and called for a change in testing policies to facilitate early identification, maximise benefits of ART and preserve life and livelihood.
"HIV/AIDS is treatable and 100 percent preventable. We have no excuse for letting things get worse," he emphasised. He said the 'opt in, opt out' government routine testing was normalising HIV/AIDS in the health care system.
The head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Princess Marina Hospital, Haruna Jibril said that there are no current HIV prevalence figures for children in Botswana, except estimates.
He said one of the challenges they faced was are covering less than 50 percent of children that needed treatment. Jibril said a total of 1000 children were on HIV treatment. Eighteen have died in the early stages of therapy at home or in hospital.
Jibril said they faced other challenges of manpower, training, drugs regimen and the right time to tell a child that he or she is HIV positive. He said because they see children up to the age of 13, they are faced with the dilemma of who should provide adolescent care.
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During discussions, Dr Ruth Pfau from Ramotswa said most workshops deal with HIV and yet there are other diseases such as diabetes and hypertension that need attention. Other people called for less dependency on donors, stating that it would be catastrophic for governments in Africa if they are unable to sustain programs such as ARV that are needed for life.
Professor Alan Whiteside, a CHGA Commissioner asked questions whether routine testing complied with human rights. Dr Banu Khan of NACA replied that health was a human rights issue and that is why people could choose to test or not. Dr Howard Moffat of Princess Marina Hospital explained that the government's policy on routine testing required that everyone who goes to a health facility is given an option for routine HIV testing regardless of what their ailments are. CHGA is to examine the HIV/AIDS epidemic in all its aspects and likely future implications.
Its role is to provide data, clarify the nature of choices facing African governments today and help consolidate the design and implementation of policies and programmes that can help contain the pandemic in order to support development and foster good governance.
Among the CHGA Commissioners are Assistant Director General, Family and Community Health, WHO, Joy Phumaphi who is a former Botswana Minister for Health.
