The Merck/Gates/Botswana Partnership for HIV/AIDS (also known as the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships or ACHAP), was established in 2000 by the Government of Botswana, the Merck Company Foundation/Merck & Co., Inc. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support and enhance Botswana's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic through a comprehensive approach to prevention, care, treatment and support. The Merck Company Foundation and the Gates Foundation each are contributing $50 million to the initiative. In addition, Merck is donating its antiretroviral (ARV) medicines to Botswana's national ARV therapy program – known as Masa (or “new dawn”) – for the partnership's duration.

Among other things, the Merck/Gates/Botswana partnership:
- Supports Botswana's National AIDS Coordinating Agency by
providing assistance with strategic planning and epidemiological
planning;
- Works to strengthen the nation's health care infrastructure,
promote behavior change and de-stigmatize HIV/AIDS;
- Provides grants to community and faith-based organizations
to support grass roots efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS at the local
level.

With each and every project the partnership supports, efforts are made to ensure that programs are locally owned and driven, sustainable and promote local capacity. While reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS will not happen overnight, early results from Botswana are promising. Today, Masa is the largest government sponsored HIV/AIDS treatment program on the African continent.

As of June 2005:
- More than 45,500 patients were enrolled in the program;
- More than 40,000 patients indicated for therapy were receiving
medications;
- Proportionately more women were receiving ARV treatment than men – by a 3 to 2 ratio;
- Approximately 2,000 new HIV+ patients each month are being enrolled in the program.

To expand this reach, the partnership has supported the construction of 32 regional treatment centers. The partnership also is working to prevent HIV/AIDS through disease awareness and destigmatization education for teachers representing nearly 78 percent of the nation's primary and secondary-level schools and to provide confidential pre- & post-HIV test counseling, disease information and support for AIDS orphans through community-based centers.

Most importantly, partnership programs are enhancing local capacity by strengthening health care infrastructure and transferring technical skills. To support Masa, the partnership has supported the development of laboratory capacity to test and monitor patients' blood. Information technology systems also are being developed to track patient adherence. At the same time, a didactic training course is providing all health care professionals in Botswana the opportunity to enhance their knowledge in HIV/AIDS clinical care, while more than 1,100 health care workers have received hands-on, clinic-based training from HIV/AIDS experts through the partnership's clinical preceptorship program.

The strength of the partnership lies in its full integration with government strategy and its ability to harness private-sector expertise in support of public-sector goals. Success to date demonstrates the importance of public/private partnerships in the fight against HIV/AIDS. As lessons are documented, the partnership's process and content will inform and guide others similarly committed to reducing the human and economic
impact of HIV/AIDS.