06 Jul 2017

The country has approximately 200 medical specialists operating in the country, and the government is working on ensuring that more people are trained in medical specialisation to augment the shortfall.

The Minister of Health and Wellness, Ms Dorcas Makgatho revealed this on July 5 at the National Assembly.

In responding to a parliamentary question, Ms Makgatho said the country had both citizen and expatriate specialists practicing in different fields.

“The total number of medical specialists currently practicing in Botswana is one in 199, among them 96 citizen and 103 expatriate specialists.  In 2010 we established an electroninc database to facilitate the planning and monitoring of our specialist trainings.

From this data base, 130 students were sent for specialist training,” Ms Makgatho said.

Of those sent for further training, only 18 had completed at the end of the 2016-17 financial year, Ms Makgatho revealed.

Among the new specialists five completed studies in Public Health, four in the Pediatric field, two each in the Internal Medicine, Family Medicine and Obstetrician fields, plus one each in Orthopedic Surgery, Spinal Surgery, Ear, Nose and Throat fields.

“The rest are expected to return as they complete their training. The five-year training strategy just ended and it is under review.

However in the current financial year, 11 medical doctors will be sent for medical specialisation,” Ms Makgatho said. She said the 11 to be sent for specialisation would be in the fields of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine and Public Health (two each), plus one each in Pathology, Anesthesiology, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Gynecology and General Surgery. Ms Makgatho was answering a question from the Specially Elected Member of Parliament, Mr Mephato Reatile.

He had wanted the minister to state the total number of medical specialists currently practicing in Botswana, provide a breakdown of citizens and expatriate medical specialists, how many Batswana medical specialists had gone for further training and graduated under a government scholarship.

Mr Reatile also sought to know the number of medical specialists to be sent for further training over the next five years. ENDS