07 Apr 2019

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Alfred Madigele says the ministry has no intention of providing 24-hour services at the Block 6 Clinic in Gaborone.

Dr Madigele explained that from January 2015 to December 2018, about 107 129 patients had been seen at the facility, averaging 26 800 patients annually.

He said this in Parliament in response to a question from Member of Parliament for Tlokweng, Mr Masego Segokgo.

The ministry, he said, was unaware of any patients who were not able to access the services offered at the clinic, explaining that the Block 6 Clinic was a dedicated diabetes facility manned by medical doctors, nursing staff and allied health staff.

Dr Madigele mentioned that the five doctors at the facility included two family physicians, one intern, one endocrinologist and one medical officer.

The 11 nursing staff, he said, covered one matron, two family nurse practitioners, two ophthalmology nurses and six general nurses; whereas the nine allied health staff comprised one dietician, five laboratory scientists, two pharmacists and one health care auxiliary.

Dr Madigele said the clinic followed normal government operating hours of 0730-1630 hours.

Tlokweng legislator, Mr Segokgo had asked the ministry to consider operating the clinic on a 24-hour basis to allow diabetes patients all-round access to the clinic for better management of the condition.

Mr Segokgo had also wanted the minister to provide statistics of diabetes patients who had visited Block 6 Clinic from 2017 to date against the number that was able to access services at the clinic.

Further, he wanted the minister to state the number of doctors, nurses and support staff available to help patients and also the operating times of the clinic on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, Dr Madigele confirmed that there were naturopathic practitioners registered with the Botswana Health Professions Council (BHPC).

He said currently there were six naturopaths registered with BHPC, all of whom were general naturopathy practitioners and thus did not have specialty in the field.

He stated that alternative or natural medicine professions were regulated through Part III of Schedule B of the Health Professions Act.

He added that activities of these professions were overseen by the Associated Health Professions Board of the BHPC.

MP Dithapelo Keorapetse of Selebi Phikwe West had asked the minister to confirm whether there were naturopathic practitioners registered with the BHPC, and if so, to state their numbers and specialties as well as how alternative or natural medicine was regulated.

Still in Parliament, Dr Madigele indicated that current records from health insurance and medical aid providers including Botswana Public Officer Medical Aid Scheme did not reveal nationality of members.

Thus, he said the ministry did not have exact numbers of Batswana with health insurance.

He said as at January, there were 139 474 principal members and 318 460 total lives covered by various medical aid schemes nationally, and that the remainder of the population would largely depend on government.

Dr Madigele said the ministry had drafted a Health Financing Strategy, which proposed some health financing reforms and explored alternative mechanisms for pre-payment.

Among the proposed reforms, he explained, was the establishment of the national health insurance system, adding that the draft was still undergoing necessary approval processes.

Mr Keorapetse had asked the minister to state the number of Batswana with health insurance or medical aid covers and those who depended on government health services.

Further, he had wanted to know if there was any policy proposition that could get more people into medical insurance or medical aid. ENDS