Clinical Trial Launched With Hopes of Discovering New Prevention Method

GABORONE - With an estimated 270,000 people currently living with HIV/AIDS, Botswana is in desperate need of new and effective ways to prevent the spread of HIV. Researchers at BOTUSA are hoping to answer that call.

On May 4th, BOTUSA launched a new landmark study to determine whether taking a daily antiretroviral pill can actually prevent HIV infection among adults at risk. The concept, called pre-exposure prophylaxis, would be similar to taking an anti-malarial pill before traveling to a malaria-infected area. The TDF2 trial was launched during a breakfast ceremony in Gaborone, opened by the Botswana Minister of Health, with a goal of recruiting 1,200 young Botswana adults between ages 18-29 who are not infected with HIV... Continued »

ARVs Rolled Out to Remote Residents

BOKSPITS - Sofia Busang blushes when she recalls the time she won a beauty contest in this tiny village at the southernmost tip of Botswana, and men would call out "Hey there, Miss Tribal!" when she passed.

Things changed when Sophia became sick with HIV/AIDS, a disease that took away her health and confidence. But more recently, with the help of life-saving ARV drugs, Sophia has won back her beauty pageant poise.

"I used to walk like this," she says, demonstrating her illness by crouching low, holding her stomach and moaning. Then, with a wide and toothy grin, she stands upright. "Now (with ARVs), I am like this again," she says, taking big steps with her head held high.

Sophia's story is one of many surfacing in far-off places like Bokspits, one of the most remote villages in the Kalahari where a growing number of people are benefiting from the anti-retroviral therapy (ART) program. Patients no longer have to travel hundreds of kilometers along some of Botswana's worst roads to get their medication. The Kgalahadi District is one of the first to successfully roll out treatment to several rural clinics... Continued »