Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
tragically, there is little indication that young adults and teenagers are engaging
in safe sex practices. women tend to be more affected than men. considerable social
pressure is also placed on women by their male partners not to insist on the use of
condoms. Most african societies have patriarchal structures.
In 2004, according to the Ministry of Health, up to 56 percent of pregnant mothers
aged 25 to 29 years were diagnosed with the disease. It comes as no surprise that this
country has had the world's worst HIv epidemic since 2004 (United States agency
for International Development [USAID] 2004; Laurance 2008). Since 2004 it has
had the largest percentage of HIV cases for the size of its population. In response
to this national crisis, Swaziland's government created the national emergency
response council on HIv/aIDS to come up with policy recommendations on how
best to control the spread of the virus. However, the government's capacity to respond
effectively and comprehensively was undermined by depleting human and financial
resources in its health as well as other sectors. the country is also faced with one of
the many negative impacts of HIv/aIDS, namely the increasing number of orphans
and other affected children who are left to fend for themselves without any social
safety nets in the absence of their mothers, who are either dying or already dead.
Botswana
In botswana, meanwhile, the situation is even more dire, although there are signs
that the epidemic could be stabilising. the country has one of the world's highest
HIv prevalence rates: an estimated four out of every ten botswanans carry the
disease. the national HIv prevalence rate among pregnant mothers has remained
between 35 percent and 37 percent since 2001. among pregnant teenagers, the
prevalence rate is stubbornly high at 18 percent in 2005. Because of insufficient
funds, bureaucratic procedures as well as poor coordination and uncoordinated HIv/
aIDS policy among different departments, botswana's government has only recently
begun to take serious steps to address the plight of thousands of botswanans either
directly infected or indirectly affected by the disease. the HIv infection level among
pregnant women aged 25 to 49 was put at 32 percent in 2006, a slight improvement
on the 2001 figures of 31 percent. This suggests that perhaps the epidemic is close to
reaching its peak and the government could finally see gradual improvements in the
fight to control the disease.
botswana's National AIDS Council, with technical and financial support from
the national aIDS coordinating agency (2003), has introduced a well-planned
and coordinated multi-sectoral response, with HIv/aIDS as the focal interest of
the national development plan. currently, the national Strategic Plan on HIv/aIDS
for 2003-2009 focusses on enlarging and improving the management of this multi-
sectoral response and incorporating both the private and public sectors to assist
government in fulfilling its pledge to stem the virus. In 2003, the government began
introducing routine HIv testing to help identify the extent of the disease among the
general population and to allow sufficient time for the introduction of antiretroviral
therapy (art) to HIv-positive patients.
