13 Oct 2014

The Ministry of Health is maximising palliative care services to ensure that people with life threatening illnesses are cared for, says the Assistant Minister of Health, Dr Gloria Somolekae.

Dr Somolekae said as healthcare professionals, it was the ministry’s responsibility to maximise services to all patients who were in need of palliative care around the country. 

Speaking during palliative care day commemoration in Serowe recently, she said patients did not only need medication, but also love hence palliative care services was key. 

The palliative care day commemoration was dedicated to information sharing, sensitising and advocating for quality care for chronically and terminally ill patients.

Dr Somolekae noted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines palliative care as “an approach that improves the quality of care of patients and families facing the problems associated with life threatening illness through the prevention and self-relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other symptoms, physical, psychological and spiritual.”

The assistant minister said she was grateful that although it was emotionally draining to take care of people with life threatening illnesses, there were Batswana who were still committed to taking care of their family members with life threatening conditions or illness at their homes.”

She said the government does not have enough resources to take care of all patients in hospitals.

“We are witnessing a worrying trend of an increase in non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and asthma,” said Dr Somolekae, adding that road traffic accidents were also increasing the number of people living with the disability. ENDS