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BACKGROUND
The idea of a network of
people living with HIV/AIDS was conceived in early 1995. A lot of
consultations and need assessments
 were
carried out notably with the financial and technical support of
the AIDS/STD Unit, Ministry of Health and other development
partners such as the UNDP and NGOs such as Ditshwanelo,
BONASO to discuss the form, and functions of such a
network.
The dream came true when it was able to registered in
2000. Now the network is affiliated to the Network of
African People Living With HIV/AIDS.
The importance of integrating People Living With HIV/AIDS
(PLWHAs+) into the national response strategies for
the reduction of the incidence and impact of HIV/AIDS
has been long recognized at both the national and international
levels. Already by 1999, UNAIDS had come up with the
Best Practice Collection on From Principle to Practice:
Greater Involvement of People Living With or Affected
by HIV/AIDS. National AIDS Policy 1992, MTPII gave a
broad scope of opportunity for the involvement of People
Living with HIV/AIDS in prevention, care and support
into the national response.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic which has succeeded in making
Botswana stand out with the unenviable reputation of
being the country with the highest reported HIV prevalence
rates in the world - an estimated 300,000 Batswana (out
of a population of 1.6 million people) are now living
with HIV and AIDS. Estimates of HIV prevalence vary
but they all bring the same message: the epidemic has
reached crisis proportions. The President has declared
a war situation – ntwa e Bolotse. “We are
threatened with extinction. People are dying in chillingly
high numbers. It is a crisis of first magnitude,”:
Festus Mogae, President of the Republic of Botswana
(2001).
Botswana Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (BONEPWA+)
has joined hands with other stakeholders in fighting
the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
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