Mogae First to Get BIPAI Award

GABORONE – President Festus Mogae has been the first recipient of the 2004 Baylor International Paediatric AIDS Leadership Award from professor Mark Kline, the director of Baylor International Paediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI). Accepting the award at the Grand Palm, President Mogae said he derived comfort from the knowledge that the award was not for his individual triumph, but that it was about dialogue, partnership and the spirit of working together. He said the war against HIV/AIDS was about cooperation and mutual support between the leadership at all levels on the one hand and the communities on the other. "It is about the courage to admit that there is a national emergency and cry out for help. When we realised that a national tragedy of enormous proportions was unfolding, we openly told the people of Botswana that there is a national emergency," President Mogae said. Regarding the ARV therapy programme in government health facilities, Mogae said he was happy that while the response of Batswana was initially slow and hesitant, at present the readiness to face the threat of the scourge was encouraging. By the end of September this year, he said, there were about 28 000 patients registered in the therapy in government health facilities while in the private sector the number of patients was about 7 000. He added that about 10 756 patients had been waiting to be put on ARV therapy in March this year. "Today I am happy to say that the number has been reduced to 5 000. This is a good indicator that our service delivery for this programme is improving," Mogae said. The president further told the guests at the award ceremony - the first to be awarded - that the public response to HIV routine testing, which started in January this year, was overwhelming. He thanked organisations such as Baylor College of Medicine; Bristol Myers Squibb's Secure the Future programme, Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute and the Merck Company Foundation for their support. He stated that the government's partnership with these organisations has resulted in the establishment of the Botswana Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence, Botswana-Harvard partnership and the introduction of PMTCT, ARV programme and routine testing. Giving a vote of thanks, the Minister of Health, Sheila Tlou, said she was happy that Botswana was the first African country to have a centre dedicated to the care and treatment of HIV infected children. She said she was glad that the children's clinical centre in partnership with several community based organisations would soon provide services to about 1 000 orphans in Mogoditshane, Gabane and Molepolole. Tlou also thanked President Mogae for his leadership role in the fight against HIV/AIDS and for being the first head of state to publicly take an HIV test. At the ceremony, one of the parents of the children getting support from the children's centre, which is located at Princess Marina Hospital, shared her experiences with the guests. Ingrid Kealotswe said her five-year-old son, who was born HIV positive, was introduced to the centre two years ago. She said before then he was fragile but had since changed for the better. She advised other parents who have children living with the virus to enrol them with the centre. For his part, BIPAI director Kline said the Baylor award would be presented annually by the Baylor College of Medicine to any individual who demonstrated commitment and leadership in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. He said President Mogae was honoured for Botswana's groundbreaking national HIV/AIDS programmes and the establishment of Africa's first centre for the care and treatment of HIV infected children. Representatives from BIPAI centres from countries like Mexico, Swaziland, Romania and Libya also attended the event. BOPA