After two and a half months, since the 21-day state of public health emergency that was declared by President Duma Boko, the availability of critical medicines and medical commodities now stand at a paltry 36 percent. This after receiving 300 tonnes of essential medical supplies with additional shipments expected in the coming weeks.
During the State of the National Address (SONA) on Monday, President Boko indicated that vital, essential and necessary medications currently stood at 63 percent. However, availability of medicines is to increase significantly in the coming weeks, as supplies which were not readily available were being manufactured and expected to land in the country soon.
“I officially declared the state of public health emergency in response to a catastrophic collapse of the medical supply chain, which had been building up for decades. At the time of the declaration, critical medicines and medical commodities were almost non-existent. Two months later we are not yet out of the woods, most of the front-line medicines for chronic diseases and those needed for emergency care are now partially available,” noted President Boko.
He said government has prioritized to overhaul Central Medical stores (CMS) and the supply chain of medicines to ensure the country’s supply of medicines never collapses to its knees.
“Through Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP) Central Medical Stores will be restructured to keep in tune with the medium to long term strategies. Alongside this, Government is undertaking necessary reforms that include immediate digitization of the health system,” he added.
To further address supply chain disruptions with medical commodities, Government has kicked in short to medium measures, such as establishing Health First Botswana partnership fund. Raised finance to support the Ministry of Health with efficient procurement of healthcare supplies.
Boko highlighted that most of the equipment in the country’s hospitals is obsolete and not working. And, to mitigate the dire deplorable state of equipment, Government has so far purchased two X ray machines for Princess Marina Hospital.
“And as a medium-term intervention, we are deploying three mobile X rays in Gumare, Gweta, and Bobonong primary hospitals which have no radiology services. Laboratory services are also adversely affected due to equipment that is obsolete and shortage of reagents. The ministry of Health will now transition towards equipment placement models for both laboratory and radiology services with both local suppliers and original manufacturers at a cheaper cost than the current. Government will only pay for the tests”, pointed out Boko.
President Boko also announced that Government had approved Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital (SKMTH) to function as a state-owned public hospital, to maximise specialised care and ensure efficiency. The aim he said is to create a pool of medical specialists with similar working conditions to take advantage of high-quality clinical services, training and research.
