hiv-aids-activists

"Some of the women get the disease during pregnancy and they don't know about it, so they end up producing a child with HIV.Some of them take the medicine when they want This makes the viral load very high, increasing the risk of transmission to the baby."

"Not every site has the capacity to do what we do in Mulago and Kawempe.Some mothers don't start treatment at the required time."

"If you look at the group,we follow at MUJHU,3,000,the prevalence of mother -to-child transmission of HIV is at zero percent.None of them transmitted the virus to the baby.They are on treatment and are followed regularly (by our health workers).But the national prevalence is at around 5 percent."

"Pro-science activists have fought back by deploying empirical evidence and political credibility to resist AIDS conspiracy theories, which is part of the crucial project to defend evidence-based medicine."

"Contemporary AIDS denialism, the belief that HIV is harmless and that antiretroviral drugs are the true cause of AIDS, is a more insidious AIDS conspiracy theory. Advocates of this position make a "conspiratorial move" against HIV science by implying its methods cannot be trusted and that untested, alternative therapies are safer than antiretrovirals. These claims are genuinely life-threatening, as tragically demonstrated in South Africa when the delay of antiretroviral treatment resulted in nearly 333,000 AIDS deaths and 180,000 HIV infectionsa tragedy of stunning proportions."

"Four symbolically powerful figures ensuring the lifespan of AIDS denialism: the hero scientist (dissident scientists who lend credibility to the movement); the cultropreneur (alternative therapists who exploit the conspiratorial move as a marketing mechanism); the living icon (individuals who claim to be living proof of AIDS denialism's legitimacy); and the praise-singer (journalists who broadcast movement messages to the public)."

"AIDS is considered a homosexual disease in developed countries, but it is a heterosexual disease in Africa and it affects us all. Everyone knows someone who is infected or has a family member who has died."

"But I hope and trust that you bear with me that for him it is a big thing to carry. He is carrying it for us, for you and me. And for generations to come"

"Inequalities between the sexes, societies and continents must be eliminated to halt the epidemic’s spread"

"It is a scourge and in Africa, it is putting the productive and reproductive edge at risk."

"Moreover, women transmit the virus when giving birth, and so have an especially important role to play in fighting the propagation of AIDS. “It is vital to target women through specific programs."

"The men go to the towns looking for work and when they come home, the women open their loving arms and everything else and they get it from their husbands."

"Uganda has AIDS. We call it siliimu. And siliimu is within us and among us. And It is only Philley Bongoley Lutaya that has accepted to show us that it is here. And it is up to us know how to handle it."

"It finds women on their marriage beds, especially rural women."

"In many societies, women are facing serious social, economic, cultural, moral and religious barriers to access to information on the disease, to protective measures and to medication to slow it development in the event of contamination."

"The stigmatization extended far beyond the illness itself, Cliff explains. “It was as if the door to darkness had been opened and all the taboos were out there—sex, death, homosexuality, drug use ... Things that people had never heard discussed openly before.”"

"I would go in patients' rooms and you could tell that they hadn't had a bath. They weren't being taken care of."

"But with my mum, I got everything I needed. I got the father’s love, the mother’s love and the sister’s love. I remember my younger days, when it rains, my mum will say, "what are you people doing in school? Just sit down/""

"Everybody letting you be yourself. There wasn’t any air around us and not that we had everything we wanted, but we were contented. We never lacked anything when we were growing up. It was all very peaceful and there was no cause for complaints from the parents’ side."

"Where am I even going? It’s already wet, outside is wet. Just sit down and rest, another day, you can always pick it up."

"I am not so sure that’s what God has called you for, but we’ll put it in prayers. I’ll keep praying and when I return, we’ll revisit it."

"Young people are becoming globalised through online media platforms, using digital skills to promote themselves in creative industries like fashion, food, film, and photography. In Botswana, the government has made technology affordable and accessible by providing devices, smart boards and Wi-Fi in villages and schools."

"The government has created safety nets and financial services to ensure young people have access to capital, such as the Chema Chema fund, similar to Kenya’s Hustler Fund. The focus is on small and medium enterprises, with agencies like the HRDC and the Local Enterprise Authority supporting young people in developing and scaling their businesses. Access to markets remains a challenge, but the government is exploring continental trading partnerships and attracting foreign direct investment."

"While job losses have occurred in sectors like financial services due to automation, the HRDC works with other agencies to retool and reskill the human resource. Young people are diversifying into areas like agribusiness, food processing, artificial intelligence and drone technology for crop and wildlife management."

"We also look at ways to address the challenge of youth unemployment by utilizing resources to develop programs targeting young people, providing them with entrepreneurship skills and artisanal training. In the context of policy advisory, we produce knowledge products like foresight research to anticipate future job demands and those that will be phased out of the industry."

"It looks good when it has a positive impact on people’s lives. In Botswana, which has been driven mainly by the diamond mining sector, innovation means ensuring that key value chain beneficiaries are the communities in and around where the resources come from, and that these technical solutions are sustainable and won’t bring negative impacts on the environment and livelihoods."

"The biggest challenge currently facing the country is unemployment, with a youth unemployment rate above 30%, including both secondary school and postgraduate graduates. There are problems of people without jobs and ironically jobs without people, pointing to misalignment between supply and demand of labour. It’s crucial that we explore alternative pathways to ensure the Government can address employability."

"Another major challenge is Botswana’s mono-economy, largely dependent on the diamond mining sector. In the past, we exported raw diamonds without beneficiation, but recently, the government has negotiated with investors to house some of the manufacturing value chain in Botswana, creating job opportunities for young people. However, the job market remains narrow."

"A transformative investment has been the digitalization of the education sector during and post-COVID, ensuring all young people have access to technology, including electrification and Wi-Fi in villages."

"We have been a bit shy of adopting technology, but we’ve seen young people rapidly take up technology and innovative solutions to their everyday problems. We cannot stay with our heads buried in the sand; we have to move with the rapidity of change."

"The HRDC was conceptualized almost 20 years ago to address challenges emerging in the management of the higher education sector in Botswana. At the time, Botswana had one national university, the University of Botswana, but there was a shift in the education ecosystem with new private service providers entering. It became clear that one university would not meet all the needs in terms of intake and access."

"There is need for greater global visibility and partnerships to support these young innovators."

"I’m extremely excited and confident because, like other African countries, Botswana has a very youthful population. The younger generation is less inhibited in their use of technology and are willing to take risks in experimental areas of their lives."

"Innovation involves bringing together ideas, research, development, financing, and commercialization."

"The government developed a second university, the Botswana University of Science and Technology, but with new private players, issues of quality assurance, employability, and access arose. The government, through what was then the Tertiary Education Act and the Vocational Training Act created the Tertiary Education Council and the Botswana Training Authority to oversee quality assurance and ensure a resource base for education and training."

"The use of new technologies has also been beneficial in public health, with telemedicine enabling doctors in Botswana to work globally without moving, and in education, with online learning programs making education more accessible and inclusive."

"Botswana, Tanzania, Britain and South Africa – Tanzania and South Africa continue to inspire as the cradles of human kind and technological innovation."

"Alioune Sall – the first “futures studies” expert I met. Nelson Mandela - who gave his life and time to South Africa’s liberation in a selfless way. They keep me in constant reflection about destiny and legacy and to know the two are not accidental."

"Most as a student of the African past. The future was always in my immediate thoughts in seeking to explain the meaning of the past."

"“Libraries have come a long way from the village community hub centered on the baobab tree and the European-style buildings of colonialism,”"

""Libraries will remain critical in this journey to the milestone years of 2030 and 2063”"

"The African shepherdess who navigates intricate paths, streams and crevasses on mountainsides is more knowledgeable of the future. What I can learn from her is that the streets as a fabrication of order ned constant maintenance. I cherish their view of the future which is that our common future is mediated by the ones above and below. We are mere custodians of this realm and should discharge our duties diligently."

"Leadership – Until the fear factor and the legacy facto becomes the informing principle for our leaders then the future will always be a “foreign country” Leaders must think beyond their term in office and of the people who entrust them with their livelihoods."

"All global think tanks, scholars, village elders, children and all resources of learning. There is no privileged source all are equally important."

"A deep rooted passion for the continent’s development agenda both past and present. The present is where I can feed my quest for knowledge."

"Evidence based research to inform policy development. African unity and integration. A common and shared future of Africa’s development potential realised in my lifetime."

"Read widely across all disciplines."

"Partnerships Are Needed To Support Botswana’s Young Innovators."

"Botswana’s youth are embracing technology, breaking barriers, and creating innovative solutions across various sectors, from agribusiness and tourism to creative industries and entrepreneurship."

"“To build a South Africa that many of us truly believe we deserve.”"