Botswana: International Women’s Day and World TB Day Seminar

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BOTUSA communications staff and the U.S. Embassy teamed up with the Botswana Women Media Association to commemorate two important days in March: International Women's Day (March 8) and World TB Day (March 24). The event was a one-day seminar (March 27) on gender and tuberculosis which targeted women working as home based care officers, family welfare educators, counselors and media practitioners.

Objectives of this seminar were:

  1. To create awareness among the general public on the causes, prevention and control of tuberculosis in Botswana and internationally.  
  2. To recognize both International Women's Day and World TB Day through a community outreach activity that focuses on health and gender. 
  3. To empower women, through sessions focusing on gender and its relationship to TB and HIV, to play a stronger role in their personal health as well as the health of the nation.
  4. To promote and support increased media reporting of and participation in health and gender related issues.
  5. To promote the work being done by BOMWA, BOTUSA, the U.S. Government and the Botswana Government.
Keabonye Ntsabane gives the welcoming remarks at the TB/Gender Seminar on Tuesday, March 27th in Gaborone.
Keabonye Ntsabane gives the welcoming remarks at the TB/Gender Seminar on Tuesday, March 27th in Gaborone. 		  Philip Drouin delivers the objectives of the seminar and explains how PEPFAR's support for TB/HIV-related activities has grown more than six-fold in just three years. By the end of September 2006, PEPFAR had supported care for approximately 301,000 TB/HIV co-infected people in the 15 PEPFAR focus countries - Botswana included.
Philip Drouin delivers the objectives of the seminar and explains how PEPFAR's support for TB/HIV-related activities has grown more than six-fold in just three years. By the end of September 2006, PEPFAR had supported care for approximately 301,000 TB/HIV co-infected people in the 15 PEPFAR focus countries - Botswana included. 		  Minister of Health Sheila Tlou gave the opening remarks at the seminar, stating that division of labor and differences in roles and responsibilities means that TB affects women differently than men. Due to her traditional role as the family caregiver, a woman who falls sick tends to have a much greater affect on the entire family structure, Tlou said.
Minister of Health Sheila Tlou gave the opening remarks at the seminar, stating that division of labor and differences in roles and responsibilities means that TB affects women differently than men. Due to her traditional role as the family caregiver, a woman who falls sick tends to have a much greater affect on the entire family structure, Tlou said. 		  One of the participants asking questions during the seminar. There were approximately 60 participants taking part in discussions regarding basic facts on TB, control measures and gender dimensions of tuberculosis.
One of the participants asking questions during the seminar. There were approximately 60 participants taking part in discussions regarding basic facts on TB, control measures and gender dimensions of tuberculosis.
 
Oaitse Motsamai, coordinator of the Botswana IPT Program and one of the program facilitators, explained that you can't separate the issue of TB from HIV/AIDS. In Botswana, she said, 60 to 80 percent of TB cases are co-infected with HIV.
Oaitse Motsamai, coordinator of the Botswana IPT Program and one of the program facilitators, explained that you can't separate the issue of TB from HIV/AIDS. In Botswana, she said, 60 to 80 percent of TB cases are co-infected with HIV. 		  Dr. Robert Makombe, of the TB/HIV section chief at BOTUSA, and Keabonye Ntsabane, chairperson of the Botswana Media Women's Association (BOMWA), give an interview on a local morning radio program at GABZFM in advance of the one-day TB seminar.
Dr. Robert Makombe, of the TB/HIV section chief at BOTUSA, and Keabonye Ntsabane, chairperson of the Botswana Media Women's Association (BOMWA), give an interview on a local morning radio program at GABZFM in advance of the one-day TB seminar. 		  Minister of Health (Prof.) Sheila Tlou greets U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Philip Drouin, and members of BOMWA outside of the Maharaja Conference Centre in Gaborone before the seminar.
Minister of Health (Prof.) Sheila Tlou greets U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Philip Drouin, and members of BOMWA outside of the Maharaja Conference Centre in Gaborone before the seminar. 		  Dr. Makombe gives a presentation on gender dimensions of tuberculosis. He said TB notification rates are higher among men in Botswana, except in the 15-24 age group. TB is still a leading cause of death among women worldwide, Makombe said, and it tends to affect women mainly in their economically reproductively active years.
Dr. Makombe gives a presentation on gender dimensions of tuberculosis. He said TB notification rates are higher among men in Botswana, except in the 15-24 age group. TB is still a leading cause of death among women worldwide, Makombe said, and it tends to affect women mainly in their economically reproductively active years.

   
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