an analysis of botswana

7/24/2019 An Analysis of Botswana

1/6

An Analysis of Botswana

Overview and Geographical InformationBotswana is a country located in southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa inthe south and east, Namibia in the west and imbabwe in the north east, and isa member state of the !ommonwealth, the "N, the Southern African

#evelopment !ommunity and the African "nion. $ormally a British protectorate,and since its independence Botswana has maintained a tradition of stabledemocratic elections. It has risen from being one of the poorest nations globally,with a G#% per capita of &'( "S in the )*+(s, to be one of the fastest growingglobal economies, with an annual growth rate of .+-. It now boasts a G#% percapita of &)+,(( "S, the fourth largest in Africa. According to /ransparencyInternational, Botswana is also the least corrupt country in Africa. Botswana0sprimary source of revenue is its rich natural resources, primarily gemstones. /hegovernment owns appro1imately 2(- of these, and gets (- of the annualrevenue.

Botswana is geographically 3at. Appro1imately '(- of its territory is covered bythe 4alahari #esert. /he northwest of the country is home to the O5avango delta,one of the world0s largest inland deltas, and in the north lies the 6a5gadi5gadi%an, one of the world0s largest salt pans.

Statistic7ife e1pectancy at birth 8years9 :(): '.: years

/otal adult literacy rate 8-9 :((;:():< 2.)-GNI per capita 8"S&9 :(): &'':(%rimary school net enrolment ratio 8-9 :((;:())< '.=-

Orphans due to AI#S, :((*> *=,(((Adult 8)2?*9 @I prevalence, :((*> :.-

Figure 2htt > www.sahistor .or .Ca

Figure 1


2/6

@IAI#S in Botswana7i5e many countries in Africa, Botswana has been heavily aDected by the@IAI#S pandemic. It is estimated that there were =((,((( adults over )2infected with @I, accounting to almost a Euarter of the population of that agerange. /he pandemic threatens to reverse the many developmental gains thecountry has e1perienced over the past 2( years since its independence.

In recent years however, the government of the fast developing nation hasbecome better eEuipped to deal with the crisis. /he national infection rate nowsits at ).2-, with )2,((( more people being infected every year. Across thecountry, the rates diDer substantially. Infection rates are highest in cities, anddecrease as the siCe of the settlement does, leaving small, rural villages with thelowest infection rate. /he eastern regions of Bobirwa and Selebi %hi5we remainhighly aDected, with prevalence rates being as high as (-.

!ontributing factors to the @IAids !risisSocial #espite @IAI#S being a virus

contractible by anyone, various socialfactors also contributed to thee1tensive and rapid spread of thevirus. One of these factors is genderineEuality in sub;Saharan Africa.

Because of cultural reasons, womenmay not always be given a choice in

/he populationbegins todecreaserapidly around

/here is barelyanyone over

the age of ( inBotswana

Almost ):2,(((males are belowthe age of four inBotswana. /hereis slightly less

Figure 3

http>www.inde1mundi.com


3/6

whether or not to practice safe se1,and this could lead to increasedspread of @I. %re;marital Se1ualpromiscuity is highly sociallyacceptable in sub;Saharan Africa, and

an increased number of partners leadsto higher spreading rates of S/Is, andin this case, @I.

/here is also high levels ofhomophobia in sub;Saharan Africa. Inearly years, AI#S was associated withhomose1uals, and myths e1isted thatonly @omose1uals could contract it.Because of this, little action was madeby the public and the governmentuntil )**'.

@istorical On the outbrea5 of the AI#S crisis, thegovernment did very little to stop thespread of the virus. /his led to therapid spread of the virus, to the pointthat it was feared that there wouldn0tbe an adult wor5force soon.

Fconomic Botswana is a developing country,where only )(- of the populationlives in cities. Because of this, it isdicult to provide services tocommunities in remote areas. /his

leads to malnutrition and poorsanitation, which both increases thespread of @I and hampers recovery.In the Hrst decade of the endemic,public spending on tac5ling the viruswas minimal. It wasn0t untilgovernment indicatives

Fnvironmental '( percent of Botswana is desert, andbecause of this many ruralcommunities do not have easy accessto clean drin5ing water and sanitation.

/his increases the chance of @I andother se1ually transmitted diseasesbeing transmitted, and slows therecovery.

/here is a great need for basichealthcare in rural areas that willimprove the population0s health ingeneral will in turn slow the spread ofAI#S. /han5fully, the government ofBotswana is rapidly improving thenationwide healthcare system in hope

of tac5ling the AI#S crisis.%olitical Before )**', there was little


4/6

government action to prevent thespread of @I. /his was due to anumber of factors, and it lead to themassive spread of the virusthroughout the country. It wasn0t until

the government of uett 6asireoutlined Jision :()+0, a set of goalsto be achieved by :()+, and declaredthat the spread of @IAI#S would behalted, and there would be no newcases by :()+.

/echnological As Botswana became an independentcommonwealth nation in )*++, itemerged as being one of the poorestcountries worldwide. /his hasdeHnitely changed today, however in

the early stages of the @IAI#Sendemic, there was very littletechnology and infrastructure capableof tac5ling the program. /his hasimproved nationwide since then, butthere is still communities living inrural areas that do not have access tothe proper technology to treat AI#S.

Kesponse to the issue$ollowing the discovery of the disease in America in )*), and the Hrst reportedcase in Botswana in )*2, the countries primary response was to screen blood tostop the transmission of the infection by blood transfusion, and the governmentdid little else until )**', when the life e1pectancy had dropped by years since)**(. In )**', the government outlined a national vision, titled Jision :()+0, inhope of containing and stopping all new reported cases by the year :()+. /oday,Botswana has one of the most comprehensive and eDective treatments for aidsin Africa. $ree drugs are supplied by the government all over the country, and*2- of the population who reEuires drugs has them because of this.

/ransmission of AI#S from mothers to newborn babies has been brought down to

an incredibly low -.Non;Government organisations also played a large part in the Hght against theAI#S epidemic. /he Bill and 6elinda Gates foundation, in partnership with the@arvard AI#S initiative and the pharmaceutical companies 6erc5 and Bristol;6yers SEuibb launched a @IAI#S treatment program, co;operating with thegovernment. /he aims were to increase access to healthcare nationwide, andimprove the standard of healthcare and treatment. By :()( the foundation hadprovided "S&+( million to the Hght against AI#S.

/he "nited States has also provided aid to the Government of Botswana,providing nearly +(( million "S dollars since :(( through %F%$AK 8president0s

emergency plan for aids relief9.


5/6

SLO/ analysis%revention of 6other;to;!hild /ransmission 8%6/!/9 of @IStrengths of the response (positives)

Of :():, over *((,((( pregnant

women living with @I globallyhave had access to %6/!/services.

Botswana0s commitment to the

success of this program hasmade it the most eDective%6/!/ program globally.

Botswana and three other

priority countries 8Ghana,Namibia and ambia9 haveachieved *(- %6/!/ coverage.

Between :(() and :():, new@I infections in children fell by2: percent.

/he program provides aid and

counselling to pregnant womeninfected with @I.

Weaknesses of the response

(negatives)

In 2012, there were still anestimated 260,000 new HIV

infeted hildren!

In priorit" o#ntries, onl" $0% of

hildren reeived HIV treatment!

&here is a low n#m'er of

healthare workers working

there failities! &his leads to

slower proessing times for

patients re#iring testing or

o#nselling

pport#nities and possi'ilities provided

'" this response!

2- of women received AK/

treatment 8antiretroviraltreatment9, similar to the +- ofadults.

*(- of women now have access

to treatment and counsellingacross botswana.

/he Lorld @ealth Organisation

has now provided lifelongantiretroviral treatment 8AK/9 topregnant and breastfeedingwomen living with @I.

&hreats to this response, potential for

fail#res

/here are many social threats

for women with @I, including alac5 of male support. 7argeamounts of men are leavingtheir partners infected with @I,or treating them with disregardand violence.

BibliographyAvert.org,. M@I AI#S In Botswana AFK/M. N.p., :()2. Leb. : 6ar. :()2.

Bill 6elinda Gates $oundation,. M/he Bill 6elinda Gates $oundation, 6erc5 !o., Inc. And /he Kepublic Of Botswana 7aunch New @I InitiativeM. N.p., :()2.Leb. :2 6ar. :()2.

Inde1mundi.com,. MBotswana Age Structure ; #emographicsM. N.p., :()2. Leb. :6ar. :()2.


6/6

N%K.org,. MBotswanaMs MStunning AchievementM Against AI#SM. N.p., :():. Leb. :26ar. :()2.

Sadc.int,. MSouthern African #evelopment !ommunity >> @I AI#SM. N.p., :()2.Leb. :2 6ar. :()2.

"naids.org,. MBotswanaM. N.p., :()2. Leb. := 6ar. :()2.

"naids.org,. M!ountry Spotlight Botswana> J/he AI#S Kesponse @as Been!atalytic In Strengthening Our @ealth System0M. N.p., :()(. Leb. :2 6ar. :()2.

irusmyth.com,. M@I AI#S ; !hapter ' ; Socio;Fconomic $actors In /he !onte1tOf @IAI#SM. N.p., :()2. Leb. :2 6ar. :()2.

Li5ipedia,. MBotswanaM. N.p., :()2. Leb. :2 6ar. :()2.

an analysis of botswana

Documents