[1] HIV/AIDS threatens the many developmental gains Botswana has achieved since its independence in 1966, including economic growth, political stability, a rise in life expectancy, and the establishment of functioning public educational and health care systems.
[4] The primary mode of transmission is heterosexual contact, with the military and young women at higher risk of HIV infection than other sectors of the population.
[5] HIV infection rates vary by geographical region: They are highest in cities, lower in towns, and lowest in villages.
Extended families and communities have exhibited resourcefulness and generosity in their willingness to absorb and care for orphaned children, but this capacity is being exhausted, especially as the current generation of grandparents begins to die.
[7] Following the first reported case of HIV in Botswana in 1985, the country's response was mainly focused on screening blood to eliminate the risk of transmission through transfusion.
In August 2000, the Gates Foundation, with the Harvard AIDS Initiative and the pharmaceutical companies Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb, started an HIV/AIDS treatment program, working with the government.
The TeachAIDS prevention software, developed at Stanford University, was distributed to every primary, secondary, and tertiary educational institution in the country, reaching all learners from 6 to 24 years of age.