Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 3/10/2005

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CONTENT:

1 - BOTSWANA: Anti-AIDS drugs for armed forces

1 - BOTSWANA: Anti-AIDS drugs for armed forces

GABORONE, 10 March (PLUSNEWS) - Botswana has started providing antiretroviral

drugs to soldiers in an effort to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on its armed

forces.

The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) medical corps, which is coordinating the ARV

programme, is to distribute the anti-AIDS drugs at three sites: Thebephatswa Air

Base, 90 km west of the capital, Gaborone; a barracks in Francistown, the

country's second city; and at Sir Seretse Khama barracks in the capital.

The programme, described as " a key watershed in safeguarding the security of the

nation " , is expected to target an estimated 5,000 infected soldiers and their

dependents.

Lekitlanye Ovuya, the BDF medical corps superintendent, labelled the programme

" an aggressive commitment to expand a multisectoral response to fight the

epidemic " , and explained that troop deployment would not hinder treatment, as

the ARV sites would be interlinked.

While there are no firm figures for the level of HIV infection in the armed

forces, the incidence is expected to mirror, if not eclipse, the country's 25

percent prevalence rate.

Recent research conducted by UNAIDS noted that military personnel were

especially vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.

This was exacerbated by several aspects of the military environment, such as an

age group at greatest risk of HIV infection (15-24 years); a military ethos that

encouraged risk-taking; and lengthy periods away from home, which could lead to

purchasing sex to relieve loneliness.

The UN agency underscored concerns that the high level of HIV/AIDS in the

military could have an impact on overall preparedness, including the loss of

experience and skills, training capacity, and the high cost of replacement

training.

Dr Ernest Darkoh, operations manager of Botswana's national drug rollout

programme, dispelled the belief that widespread availability of ARV therapy

would encourage people to revert to risky sexual behaviour.

" Our experience in Botswana has been the contrary: we have found that the

availability of treatment has served as a driver for people to know their

status, " he told IRIN.

However, Darkoh added that campaigns urging safer sex practices had not made a

significant impact on sexual behaviour.

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