29 Nov 2020

As the world commemorates World AIDS Day tomorrow, one of the champions for an AIDS Free Generation Africa, former president Dr Festus Mogae has received a novel on HIV/AIDS titled When Love Hurts.

Ibo Kgwarae, a writer and PMTCT nurse, who presented the novel to Dr Mogae recently, said it was dedicated to Dr Mogae.

She said Dr Mogae had won international praise for his efforts in the country’s response to HIV/AIDS.

Further, Dr Mogae  according to Kgwarae, has been credited as one of the first heads of state in the world to publicly test for HIV and was one of the first African leaders to chair the country’s national AIDS council. 

Under Dr Mogae, she said Botswana became the first country in Africa to provide free antiretroviral therapy.

In 2004, she highlighted that he introduced routine opt-out HIV testing, which had since dramatically increased the number of people who know their HIV status.

In August 2008, during the 17^th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, Dr Mogae launched the Champions for an AIDS-Free Generation, a distinguished group of former presidents and influential African leaders committed to an AIDS-free generation. 

The champions have completed missions to four African nations, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, where they advocated for stepped-up HIV prevention efforts.

Dr Mogae also received a number of awards, including the 2008 Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership and the Grand Cross of the Legion d’Honneur. 

It is against this background that Kgwarae saw it befitting to honour and remember Dr Mogae for his fight against HIV/AIDS scourge.  

She said Dr Mogae had changed and saved lives through his address on HIV/AIDS when Botswana was experiencing high rates of HIV infections in 2000.

She also said as a PMTCT nurse, she also found it fit to write a novel that would create awareness, fight the spread and create behavioural change on HIV/AIDS. 

The book, When Love Hurts, she further said intended to address issues such as stigma and discrimination in a fictitious way in an attempt to get the message across.

“It also advocates for behavioural change, but also emphasises the need to re-visit important moral values in Setswana culture such as Botho and respect for one another,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kgwarae also presented a framed group photo of Champions for an AIDS Free Generation Africa as a way of appreciating them in uniting and supporting regional leaders towards ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat. 

Dr Mogae is one of the members of the Champions for an AIDS- Free Generation. 

For his part, Dr Mogae commended Kgwarae for her effort and talent saying the book would help spread the message on behaviour change and also help fight the spread of the infection.

Dr Mogae appealed to all to make a personal commitment to abandon risky behaviour that might lead to HIV infection adding that every citizen should consider themselves key players in the battle for an AIDS free society. Ends