BOLOTO MUST FALL
Pako Bootsapo, an HIV activist, has cautioned against the practice of casual and unprotected sex – commonly called in the vernacular - because HIV/AIDS is still a challenge in Botswana. He said it was sad to observe how some people play Russian Roulette with their lives over short-term sexual pleasure.
“Some people have unprotected sex without even knowing the HIV status of the person they are sleeping with. People should normalise testing for HIV with their partners and being open about their status.”
Bootsapo, a member of an organisation called Ask Rakgadi, has started a movement called ‘No Shame About Being HIV Positive’ to bring hope to those living with HIV and encourage those who are HIV negative to protect themselves from infection.
The most recent statistics indicate the average infection rate is 9500 people per year. About 380, 000 people are living with HIV in Botswana, with 82 percent of them on ARV treatment, with about 20.7 percent of that number being the adult HIV prevalence (ages 15-49). In light of the Covid19 pandemic, health research has indicated that more people have a higher risk of contracting the virus.
In his advocacy work, Bootsapo uses his experiences as a point of reference. He fell ill in 2004, when he repeatedly got abscesses. He went to the clinic for consultation and was asked to test for HIV and his results came back positive. At the time, HIV positive individuals were not immediately enrolled on ARV treatment, so he was monitored until 2010, when his CD4 count dropped and he contracted tuberculosis. He was subsequently enrolled on treatment.
While he has accepted himself, it was not smooth sailing for him to get here. Bootsapo said that when he was first diagnosed as HIV positive, he wanted to end his life. “I had to be tested six times after I accused the nurse of giving me the wrong results,” he said. But nothing could have prepared him for the stigma that he faced in his community. “I was called ‘phamokate.’ I became depressed and had no one to talk to,” he said. He tried to commit suicide but a friend found him and took him to Tutume hospital where he was offered counselling. “The social worker assigned to me helped me come to terms with my status. We communicated on the phone daily, and through the empowering conversations, I realised that there is life after testing positive for HIV,” he said.
Bootsapo said his family members have been supportive from the onset but he lost many friends after sharing his status, while his then girlfriend dumped him. “She always demanded unprotected sex which I could not offer. I eventually disclosed my status but she started calling me names and violated my privacy by going around telling people that I am HIV positive before leaving me,” he said. But it is all water under the bridge as he has moved on and is happy.
He wants to challenge ignorance and educating people on HIV is close to his heart. Bootsapo said he has observed that many people are reluctant to test for HIV and say that they would rather die without knowing their status but said this is shooting themselves in the foot. “HIV is still a serious threat yes, but it is important to test in order to be enrolled for treatment. Being HIV positive is not the end of life… one can even get a loving partner even if they are HIV positive.”