dawn breaks in the central kalahari game reserve home to one of the hardest to reach tribes in botswana the bashawa or bushman 200 kilometers away mobile hiv testing van set out to reach them the journey is long very long but critical we invite you we encourage you to come and test it's time one quarter of the nation's population lives in remote areas with no access to health services the closest clinic is four hours away by car two days by donkey their primary means of transportation nineteen-year-old galia congress heeds the call to get tested in tents
assembled as makeshift clinics people out there don't have that access that's why it's very important to take the service to them heads up the mobile testing unit for tabela pele botswana's largest hiv testing organization and mobile units like these may be especially valuable to women who often face unique obstacles to securing services says naznin damji of the un development fund for women unifem where they are caregivers and they cannot leave the house as easily as men would to be able to go to a clinic or to a hospital to get a test other women she
says simply lack the funds to travel for galia congo the mobile units offer the opportunity to take her first hiv test i just came to test so that i can know my status to know whether i have the virus or not and everything that takes place in the tent will be confidential as she waits to get tested the counselor questions her on the reaction of her partner should she be hiv positive do you think he will accept it if you tell him you have tested and your results i don't know if he will accept or
not with him i don't know and acceptance is a very real concern as many women around the world face an increased risk of violence abuse or discrimination when they disclose their status a lot of women will be abandoned they will no longer have access to property to inheritance to all kinds of rights that are legally hers as well as bringing testing to their doorstep mobile tents serve as a refuge for women with such fears a private place to get counselling and support something galea kongwei will need if she is hiv positive in 10 minutes she
will lift this tin lid to find out in 2008 mobile units reached 160 000 people but despite increased testing and subsequent treatment not everyone is getting the needed drugs and experts say women continue to be at greater risk as access to medical treatment is not always available women like loma butloffy who two years ago was diagnosed with hiv in a mobile tent they told me i was positive they told me to come to the clinic i couldn't get transport until i felt sick her results are ready in a moment her life could change forever i
am scared you are waiting for me to take the leader off yes oh do you understand them yes i do negative testing the first step toward knowing for so many women and a major step in helping botswana reach universal access to hiv services you
