21 Feb 2017

Botswana Baylor pediatric Cancer and Hematology Centre of Excellence will allow children with cancer and other blood diseases to access high quality care from a team of experts.

The government of Botswana has partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to create a pediatric oncology treatment centre at the University of Botswana (UB) which is the first of its kind in Africa.

Delivering a keynote address at the groundbreaking ceremony of the centre of excellence at University of Botswana Hospital on Tuesday, President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama said the project represents a critical expansion of the health service delivery, not just for Botswana, but for Africa as a whole.

“The centre will make Gaborone a national and regional hub for pediatric oncology, training, research and care using the centre of excellence model that we have come to know so well,” he said.

He stated that young doctors, scientists and other health professionals would be trained and capacitated in the state of the art facility by skilled staff.

President Khama highlighted that as Botswana celebrated her 50^th independence anniversary, the country recorded significant milestones in the health sector growing from providing the most basic care to sophisticated tertiary specialised care.

“Along the way we were challenged by serious events such as HIV and AIDS epidemic, which tested our resolve to the core, but we persevered while recording successes in our response worthy of global recognition,” he noted.

He highlighted that Botswana was aware of the threat of Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) including cancers, which have now posed yet another epidemic globally.

President Khama stated that in the realisation of potentially negative consequences of NCDs on development, the recently launched long term vision 2036 as well as the National Development Plan 11 had given NCDs prominent consideration so that resources can be availed.

For his part, Bristol Myers Squibb Senior Vice President, Mr Emmanuel Blin stated that the centre would improve the prognosis of thousands of children with cancer and blood disorders in Southern and Eastern Africa.

Mr Blin said that the foundation is committing US$50 million over five years to fund training of healthcare providers as well as clinical infrastructure and operations with the Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS initiative to raise an additional US$50 million.

He highlighted that health professionals would be recruited from around the world to provide training to local healthcare professionals and begin treating children with blood disorders and cancer.

Mr Blin further noted that the Global Hope initiative would train an estimated 4 800 healthcare professionals from Botswana, Uganda, Malawi and other African countries specialising in pediatric and oncology.

The vice president said it was estimated that over 5 000 children would receive care in the first five years.

For her part, Minister of Health and Wellness, Ms Doras Makgato said the centre would bring the latest expertise and technology from one of the best cancers in the world as well as potential to work collaboratively with other institutions.

She stated that the centre would save government millions of Pula and transform pediatric cancer while generating income through patient referrals from neighbouring countries. BOPA