Botswana at HIV tipping point

Botswana is one of the few countries that have reached the tipping point in the HIV epidemic, which means that for every person on treatment, less than one person is newly infected, a Voice of America branch manager reported. Speaking at an event in a district where HIV prevalence remains high (27.5 percent in 2013), he said that nationally, new HIV infections have dropped by 71 percent since 2001 and the rate of mother-to-child transmission — once as high as 40 percent — is now 2 percent. The VOA manager attributed these trends to Botswana’s policy of offering antiretroviral treatment free of charge to all eligible citizens, along with prevention of mother-to-child transmission and “a slow but steady increase” in the number of men accessing safe male circumcision services (Mmegi Online, 2 February 2015).