02 Dec 2024

Government has taken a decision to transfer primary healthcare functions from Ministry of Health to that of Local Government and Traditional Affairs says Dr Stephen Modise when addressing Botswana Doctors Union annual general meeting, Saturday in Gaborone.

The health minister said, government aspired to have a fully functional and efficient health system that served the people satisfactorily. He said Botswana yearned for a health system that worked for people, one that was easily accessible to all citizens and residents.

To pursue that goal, Dr Modise said primary healthcare functions were to be transferred from health ministry to the Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, a move that would represent a shift towards decentralisation, to enhance local accountability and responsiveness to health needs and successfully improve health outcomes.

Furthermore, he said the transfer would strengthen the health system and foster community involvement in public health, adding that further details on the development would be shared as time progressed.

Meanwhile Dr Modise highlighted that medical doctors played a critical role in any health system, noting that issues pertaining to their profession and welfare therefore, should always be taken seriously.

“Since we share this common goal, we will walk together as we re-engineer and overhaul our health system and make it work for all our people,” said Dr Modise.

He highlighted that as pronounced by President Advocate Duma Boko, government desired patients’ rights to quality health services to be acknowledged and enforced while at the same time ensuring that health practitioners’ rights to a conducive and professionally fulfilling work environment were met.

Dr Modise acknowledged challenges doctors faced, especially those in the public health sector, which included high workload on account of shortage of doctors, limited resources and others relating to their pay structure and progression.

He said the ministry would face these challenges head on and would advise each other on best approaches to ensuring that doctors and all other health professionals performed their work without any hindrances whatsoever.

Regarding Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital he said the ministry would in due course, indicate the direction in which the hospital would take. Dr Modise said Botswana Doctors Union was an important stakeholder in the health system therefore, engagements as these, that sought to come up with innovative ideas and solutions that truly addressed their challenges and issues affecting the health system, before making conclusions were important.

Representatives from medical and doctors associations from South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe graced the event. Ends