On March 05 2009, ACHAP joined the rest of the country at the launch of an important interventions in the fight against HIV infection in Botswana, a three year multimedia campaign on the reduction of multiple concurrent sexual partners(MCP), one of the key drivers of the HIV epidemic in the country.

Work on the development of the communication strategy to guide this campaign was supported technically and financially by ACHAP through a partnership with PSI. While launching the campaign, the Speaker of the National Assembly Mr Patrick Balopi cautioned both men and women to take concrete steps in their lives to protect themselves from infection with HIV by reducing the number of sexual partners in their networks.

Two priority target populations have been identified as the focus of generalized media and community mobilization activities, based on the prevalence of MCP in these population segments and their susceptibility to behavior change interventions.

The first priority target population is young women aged 18-24 who engage in MCP with wealthier, usually older, men to satisfy a range of material needs and wants, or advancement in education and employment. The second priority target group is men aged 25-35 having overlapping short-term sexual relationships for sexual variety. A third key focus of the campaign, particularly in media commentary and community debate will be the phenomenon of older men having sex with young girls, particularly in poorer, rural areas.