Botswana's President Festus Mogae has acknowledged the US as his country's "ally" in the war against HIV/AIDS, the local Daily News reported on Friday.
While addressing an AIDS meeting in Washington earlier this week, Mogae said he remained "especially indebted" to the contributions of the US in tackling HIV/AIDS in Botswana.
He said the pandemic had the capacity to destroy Botswana "as mercilessly and comprehensively as any man-made weapon of mass destruction," if left unchecked.
"It is true that only by mobilising society as a whole into making a supreme and collective effort, can there be any hope for us to defeat this enemy," Mogae added.
The Harvard AIDS Institute recently established a world-class laboratory in Botswana for research on the country's prevalent HIV strain, subtype-1C.
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