ABSTRACT
CONTENTS Introduction............................................................................................ 322 HIV and AIDS in Botswana: Magnitude of the Problem
and Preparedness ................................................................................ 322 Botswana’s Policy for Fighting the HIV/AIDS Pandemic........................ 323 Administrative Machinery for Fighting HIV/AIDS in Botswana............. 325 Challenges Faced by Botswana in Fighting the HIV/AIDS Pandemic..... 327 Conclusion.............................................................................................. 332 References ............................................................................................... 334 Web Sites ................................................................................................ 334 Abbreviations .......................................................................................... 335
Introduction Africa is highly affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on Aids (UNAIDS) report 2006, sub-Saharan Africa is home to nearly 24.7 million of the world’s 42 million people living with HIV/AIDS. This represents 67 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s population, with the southern African region being the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS pandemic representing 32 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS and 34 percent of AIDS deaths globally. Nearly 2.4 million of the world’s global infected children with HIV and AIDS come from the African soil with 380,000 deaths (UNAIDS, 2006).
