AIDS-Hit Botswana to Start HIV Tests on Infants

Botswana, where government figures show 38.5 percent of adults have HIV/AIDS, will this month begin testing infants age 16 weeks and older for HIV. The initiative is being funded by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a five-year, $15 billion effort to combat global AIDS. "This program is a result of partnership between [Botswana's] Ministry of Health and the US government," Doug Johnson, a PEPFAR official, said today.

Previously, infants underwent HIV testing at age 18 months and above.

According to Johnson, a $102,000 pilot project for early HIV detection in infants was successfully run in the country's north. PEPFAR will allocate an additional $425,000 to implement the testing program nationwide. "The early infant diagnosis program is going nationwide this month and will be offered in various health centers," he said.

A 2005 study conducted by the health ministry and CDC found that out of 1,917 infants with one or more HIV-infected parent, just seven tested positive for the disease.

Botswana's government-run antiretroviral drug program is considered by some to be the first of its kind in Africa. Of 68,440 patients on ARVs by June of this year, 59,940 were receiving the medicines through the government. The program aims to get 150,000 patients on treatment by 2009, but the government is concerned about the cost.

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