16 Aug 2016

The permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, Ms Shenaaz El- Halabi says in terms of human capital development, Botswana has invested significantly in health, education and skills development.

Ms El- Halabi said this when delivering a key note address at the National Stakeholder Consultative Workshop for the Health Sector Human Development Plan, which was organised by Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) at Cresta Hotel recently.

She said despite high public spending in this sector, Botswana was ranked 109 out of 185 countries in the Human Development Index of the United Nations, hence a need for introspection.

“I am delighted to be here with you to honour one of the milestones towards strengthening of health systems; the development of the Health Sector Human Resource Development Plan,” she said.

She noted that the dialogue could not have come at a better time as the country was currently working on the development of National Development Plan (NDP) 11, adding that the initiative resonated well with the NDP 11’s objective of competitive human resources. 

“It also comes after the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals. All these Strategic commitments can only be realised with a competent competitive workforce”, she noted.

Ms El- Halabi said the national workshop provided a conducive environment for key players in the health arena to dialogue and interrogate the country’s strategic readiness as it operationalise the National Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS).

“It is therefore, an opportunity for this Health Sector HRD Plan to be aligned to the National Development Plan 11 as well as the SDGs,” she said.

She further said as a country, “we could be proud of the success that we have achieved during the past decade in both sectors.”

She however explained that Botswana continued to face challenges which would continue to be addressed during NDP 11.

Ms El- Halabi said that it was necessary that the participants take note of the challenges as they deliberated to come up with the best and most suitable strategies that would work for the country.

“The health sector will during NDP 11 focus on access to good quality health care and utilisation of health service, prevention, rehabilitation and sustainable health and health care,” she said.

She further noted that for Botswana to achieve these goals, it would require amongst other key inputs, a system of training and developing an adequately qualified workforce to meet the health needs of the economy, emphasising that the deliverables from the workshop should be in line with the strategic direction.

She challenged the organisers to look at how they could create a system whereby the buyers of the service could have a voice on the suppliers of the health workforce.

“I acknowledge the great efforts and contributions done on the plan so far by all players. I therefore implore you to contribute towards the finalisation of the Health Sector HRD Plan,”she said. ENDS