New AIDS clinic extends treatment efforts

The opening of a new HIV/AIDS care clinic in northern Botswana could extend the reach of the country's existing treatment and prevention programmes. The Infectious Diseases Care Clinic at Maun General Hospital was recently handed over to the government by the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP), as part a project that will see four clinics and 16 satellite extensions added to its support for the country's antiretroviral drug programme. ACHAP team leader, Dr Donald Korte, said in a statement: "The expanded clinic will ... extend the government's capacity to reach out to those infected and affected across northwestern Botswana." The clinic is also expected to play a key regional role in supporting the government's programmes for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, currently provided through the public health service. "This infectious disease care clinic already accommodates referrals from five primary hospitals, and thus forms an important centre for effectively dealing with treatment and care," Korte added.