Current Status of the Epidemic : An Overview

The Botswana HIV/AIDS impact survey II 2004 will be conducted in a randomly selected households throughout Botswana during the period of February 9 to 18 June 2004. Your cooperation with the survey team is highly sought.

Your Cooperation is the most Important Element of the Survey.

It is anticipated that by now almost every one is informed to a certain extend about the HIV/AIDS-the killer disease. Our Government is highly concerned about the rate at which the virus causing this deadly disease is spreading and the number of deaths occurring in this country caused by HIV/AIDS.

Your Honest Answers will Help us to Draw up the Most Effective Strategy to Fight AIDS Pandemic

Indeed, this should be a concern to every one who loves this country and that is why a survey about HIV/AIDS is important and necessary. We should know our enemy and the effects caused to our society by this deadly enemy in order to fight back. You cannot fight an enemy you do not know or understand.

The privacy and anonymity of the individual shall be safe guarded. The survey shall be conducted in two parts. The first part is for the assessment and evaluation of the population’s knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding HIV/AIDS. Households members will be expected to answer all questions posed from the prepared questionnaire.

Please Feel Free And Open Up To Answer Some Of The Very Intimate questions About Your Sex Life

Fellow Batswana, you are expected to be open and supportive when dealing with HIV/AIDS. We are saying this because the set of questions which are going to be asked deal with sex and lovemaking. Please, do not feel bad because we are at war with a deadly enemy and to fight this enemy in order to win, we have to face facts of life and call a spade a spade. We have no options left or else we are all going to perish. It is a matter of life and death.

You are expected to respond honestly and sincerely. You are going to be asked questions such as “ have you ever had sexual intercourse ?” “ when was the last time you had sex?”, etc. The survey questionnaire will cover persons between the ages of 10 and beyond, both females and males.

Even The Enumerators Will Not Know Your Status.

The second stage is the collection of mucous samples from the mouth of all persons aged between 18 months and beyond in selected households around the country.

We Will Not Reveal Your HIV Status To Anyone.

You will be required to give a mucous sample by the use of a new technique called the OraSure. This technique does not collect saliva but it absorbs antibodies directly from the blood vessels in the mucous membranes. The collected samples are stored safely without name tags and thereafter sent to laboratory for analysis. No one will know which sample belongs to whom. These results shall remain anonymous and when reports are finally prepared, only aggregated figures shall appear.

Our Sample Collection Method Is Safe, Hygienic, Harmless And No Side Effects.

The Technique is guaranteed safe without any side effects nor toxic that may affect the individual in any other way. It cannot be contaminated by other persons in this way passing germs from one to the other. It is very safe.

We are appealing to everyone within the age bracket stipulated to participate in this survey.

This Is A Survey To Know The Impact Of HIV/AIDS On Our Nation

This is for the benefit of the nation and it is very important as policies and programs on HIV/AIDS shall be reviewed based on the findings of the survey to suit their relevancy in the District or Nationally.