The HIV/AIDS challenges in Africa: An impact and response assessment. The case of Botswana (review)

The book is based on two studies in Botswana conducted during in 2005. The first study by Godisang B. Mookodi and Tapologo Maundeni focused on the role of men in preventing or reducing HIV infections in Botswana. The second study by Stephen M. Kapunda examined the impact of HIV/AIDS on small – scale enterprises and the response of this sector to the epidemic in Botswana. The book is well organized and easy to read. These studies will also be useful to other scholars and policymakers because of inclusion of questionnaires they used which show how specific issues were investigated. The two studies are a welcome critique of academic research on HIV/AIDS and they also make useful recommendations for new directions policymakers should follow when dealing with the scourge.

Two developments appear to have influenced and justified the research of Mookodi and Maundeni. The first of these was limited scholarly research on the role men play in spreading and preventing HIV infections. Mookodi and Maundeni acknowledged that responses to HIV/AIDS have been evidence-based since the early 1990s. They criticize the fact that that the evidence was mainly drawn from women such as those attending antenatal clinics. They further point out that interventions to manage HIV/AIDS recognized social, economic inequalities and cultural beliefs about relations between men and women. Their literature review led them to discover that little was known about male sexuality and how male sexual behaviours drive HIV infections. Moookodi’s and Maundeni’s work is therefore an important addition to emergent scholarship on what drives the spread of HIV infection. For example, they examine many aspects of male sexual behaviour and what makes masculinities hegemonic in Botswana. Mookodi and Maundeni demonstrated that in the cultural and socio – economic contexts of Botswana, there can be no thorough understanding of the HIV scourge without understanding what underlies risky sexual behaviour among men. The researchers further draw attention to the difficulties of effective management of interventions when little is known about male sexuality.

This problem constitutes the second justification of the study under discussion. Periodic reviews, especially from 1998 led to a shift in 2003 about how the Botswana Government and NGOs working on HIV/AIDS should manage the epidemic. A new National Strategic Framework for the period 2003 – 2009 increased ‘attention on ‘men’s sector responses’ in managing HIV/AIDS. In the Strategic Framework, best practices are sought and identified. There is also preparation to increase work involving Botswana men in managing HIV/AIDS. This is one area where the authors make a seminal contribution. They do not treat men as a homogeneous group, and deal with them according to differences in age and socio – economic status, and suggest that interventions should be crafted with informed specificity. Mookodi and Maundeni made a useful and timely contribution on how the best practices as a new generation of interventions could be effective.

Mookodi and Maundeni based their study on a rich and diverse empirical data. They interviewed individuals, men’s groups and NGOs in Gaborone, Kasane and Maunatlala. Gaborone represents an urban situation. Kasane and Maunatlala Village represent less urbanized areas, although Kasane being close to the border with Zambia is an area of intensive migration. Informants came from a variety of groups such as Society for men Against AIDS in Botswana (SAMAABO), Men, Sex and AIDS, Total Community Mobilisation (TCM), Botswana Family Welfare Association (BOFWA). There are also men’s groups in government and private sector institutions dealing with dealing with men and HIV/AIDS. Government initiative has produced such groups in the Police Services, Prisons and Botswana Defence Force. On seeing that there were few organizations which focus on men and HIV/AIDs, Mookodi and Maundeni expanded to interview NGOs addressing gender relations and human rights. The researchers interviewed males in school, out of school and employment, and those who are employed.

Primary data and the methods...