12 May 2017

Government is concerned by the increasing number of no-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart and kidney complications, Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Dikgang Makgalemele has said.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Gakgatla on May 10, he said most of these were lifestyle diseases which required all to live a healthy lifestyle and to test early so that assistance could be given on time.

He said the ministry was promoting preventative care which included aspects such as exercising which he said was no longer a luxury but a necessity.

He said although government was committed to giving quality medical service to residents, Batswana should be at the forefront and taking responsibility of their health.

He said when it came to treating patients, experts have shown that effective treatment was such that medicine played about 20 per cent while 80 per cent was social therapy.

Minister Makgalemele said leading a healthy life was the responsibility of an individual, hence promotion of preventative care by the wellness ministry to complement individual efforts.

He said exercising should form part of community cultural norms if the challenge of communicable diseases was to be contained.

The assistant minister said most of the diseases were lifestyle related and could be avoided through promoting healthy eating and exercising.

Mr Makgalemele said individuals not heeding advices from nurses and not taking responsibility of their health were making it difficult for the ministry to save their lives thereby leading to the ever increasing medical costs, money which could be used in other national developmental projects.

He said the ministry was concerned by the few people testing and knowing their health status, and that the high number of ARVs defaulters were defeating government efforts of ensuring health for its citizens.

He said community health structures were a base to support the health and wellness of the community such as Village Health Committees, District AIDS Multi-Sectoral Committee and Home Base Care.

He added that they should be promoted to ensure that the social structure support at village level was active to assist patients at cthe ommunity level.

He said such committees were critical in that they acted as liaison between medical givers and community patients.

He however said the ministry was aware that such committees did not attract allowances, hence committee members in some areas had been trained in life skills to earn a living by utilising other government empowerment programmes.

Mr Makgalemele said he noted concerns from the village leadership regarding the upgrading of the village clinic, shortage of personnel and vehicles being unable to assist over the weekend.

On the ministry’s departments taking long to respond or give feedback, he said the ministry intended to improve on turnaround time in all services as per the 10 points agenda and service delivery standards.

Kgosi Lenyetse Moshapa said the minister’s visit came at a time when they were eager to be appraised on developments earmarked for their area. ENDS