Advancing Partners and Communities (APC) in Botswana

Advancing Partners and Communities (APC) in Botswana

Through HIV community care and prevention in seven priority districts of Botswana, the Advancing Partners and Communities (APC) project contributes to the 90-90-90 targets set by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to end the AIDS epidemic. The priority target group of APC in Botswana is adolescent girls and young women, as they are particularly vulnerable to new infections because of prevailing gender norms. The project strengthens the community response to the HIV epidemic through community empowerment, community HIV testing and counseling, community care for tuberculosis (TB) and HIV, HIV prevention for adolescent girls and young women, gender norm awareness and care for those affected by gender-based violence.

The project will: 

• Locate people living with HIV who are not enrolled in a care and treatment program
• Locate previously enrolled patients lost to follow-up
• Ensure that people living with HIV are maintained in care
• Ensure that TB patients receive treatment

The project team will use an innovative mobile phone monitoring database using patients’ national identity card numbers to avoid duplicate enrollment and maximize the outcomes of active referral and tracing of those lost to follow-up.