The Botswana Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (BBCA) has hailed the construction of a clinic at Kazungula Village. The clinic is being constructed at a tune of P16 million with aid from the Global Fund in a bid to implement HIV/AIDs cross border initiative.
It has since emerged that as the SADC secretariat hands over the clinic to Botswana the government is not willing to make any committal about the provision of HIV/AIDs drugs to truck drivers at the newly constructed Kazungula Clinic.
The government has not made a commitment despite that truck driver who spend more than a month waiting to cross at Kazungula have raised concern that they are faced with challenges such as provision of ARV’s to truck who usually request to refill for ARV’s exposing them to serious complications as they default on their medication.
The BBCA is optimistic that the initiative will provide health service closer to the vulnerable key populations such as truck drivers who usually wait for months to cross at the ongoing construction of P1,4 billion Kazungula bridge.
The Kazungula Bridge Project (KBP) is a multi-national project on the North-South Corridor (NSC) within the SADC region and part of a corridor-long infrastructure improvement programme
BBCA, Chief Executive Officer Frank Phatswane hailed the move arguing that there has been concern that even though service are available at public health facilities there were several key populations that are hardest hit by HIV/AIDs such as migrant worker, sex workers and truck drivers.
“What we have been advocating for from our side is that service need to be brought closer to them taking into the account the environment which they live in. We really appreciate the gesture from Global Fund because such key populations find it difficult to access health services, ‘added Phatswane.