Botswana Was Once At Risk Of Extinction From Hiv. Now It Is A World Leader In Eliminating The Virus In Children

The pioneering African country is lauded for slashing rates of mother-to-child transmission to just 1.2 and is holding trials that may now hold the key to curing young people At the turn of the century, HIV was so rampant in Botswana that politicians and doctors viewed it as an existential threat. were reported to be infected at birth, while rates of mother to child transmission either through pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding , according to UNAIDS. Between 1990 and 2000, mortality among children under five . With a population of just 1.7 million people, no cure available and the second-highest HIV prevalence in the world, the countrys then-president, Festus Mogae, declared in 2001: