Tertiary education HIV and AIDS Programme Graduate Alive. Programme inception document

Programme Reports & Evaluations
Tertiary Education Council
2009
38 p.

With over 32,000 young adults enrolled by 2004, Botswana's tertiary education sector has a critical role to play in confronting the challenges of HIV and AIDS. Young adults represent a high risk group for the transmission of HIV and they are also the generation that has been most impacted by HIV through the loss of loved ones and the loss of essential services. Tertiary education students (youth and mature students) represent a key component in the future triumph over HIV as they form the forthcoming skills set for the country, the doctors, nurses, entrepreneurs, social workers and other high level workers who will drive and develop the economy and the future response. Tertiary institutions must begin to provide students and staff with the entire gamut of HIV services - psycho-social support, prevention interventions, support for students whose families have lost breadwinners, counselling and testing etc. In addition, tertiary institutions need to scale up their response to the human resources gap that has been left by HIV and AIDS. But to add to these mammoth challenges, the sector is more than 20 years delinquent in its response. The sector needs to work efficiently and effectively to catch up and succeed in contributing to the intellectual capital needed in our national response. The Tertiary Education HIV and AIDS Programme (teAIDS) seeks to go beyond awareness to coordinate fragmented efforts in order to construct a comprehensive sector-wide response to HIV and AIDS that is coherent in terms of strategic direction, co-ordinated in terms of management and better linked to the national policies and programmes. The teAIDS strategy will involve three transitions for all tertiary institutions that will help initiate or scale up their response and their ability to provide services for students and staff. The three transitions (Filling the Gap, Support and Research) will embrace seven interconnected thematic pillars: 1. Leadership, motivation and commitment. 2. Prevention and testing. 3. Support and treatment literacy. 4. Expertise and best practices. 5. Motivation and community engagement. 6. HIV and Me. 7. By Us, For Us (Research).

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