Botswana, battling one of the world’s highest HIV/AIDS infection rates, has made major headway with its campaign to fight the deadly epidemic through public education, a national survey showed on Monday.

The Botswana Aids Impact Survey (BAIS) is the latest measure of success for diamond-rich Botswana’s efforts to stem new infections and keep those already infected alive through free distribution of anti-retroviral drugs.

The survey showed that 89 percent of people in Botswana, know how to prevent HIV infection, and less than 6 percent of people had had more than one sexual partner in the last 12 months.

The government runs its “ABC” education campaign around the slogan “Abstain, Be faithful, Condomise”, although HIV/AIDS workers point out it cannot reduce the overall infection rate fast.

“Many people believe in a falling prevalence figure as the measure of the success of the overall AIDS campaign, but no, it should not fall, it should stabilise,” said the leader of the anti-retroviral (ARV) programme, Ernest Darkoh.

“At this time falling prevalence means those infected are dying. If I treat you, you remain alive, but you also remain HIV positive,” he said.

The survey indicated 84 percent believed that women could negotiate safe sex - seen as a prerequisite in halting the spread of the disease in some African societies where rape and coercive sex are commonplace.

It showed an overall infection rate of 17.1 percent of Botswana’s 1.7 million population - or 287,000 people living with HIV/AIDS.

UNAIDS figures from the end of 2003 estimated 37.3 percent of Botswana’s 15-49 year olds - the measure used to compare the epidemic across countries - were infected with HIV, narrowly better off than nearby Swaziland, which has the world’s highest per capita infection rate at 38.8 percent.

Neighbouring South Africa is struggling to cope with the world’s biggest HIV/AIDS caseload, with more than 5 million of its 45 million people infected.

Botswana, with one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa thanks to its rich diamond mines, was the first country in Africa to provide anti-retroviral drugs free of charge, with assistance from the United States and multinational drug companies.

But as of November 2004, only 28,000 people were receiving treatment out of 110,000 estimated to need it.