15 Aug 2021

Drug and substance abuse require a multi sector approach because they know no social, economic or national boundaries, Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Setlhomo Lelatisitswe has said.

Answering a question in Parliament on Friday, Mr Lelatisitswe said social ills undermined the health, dignity and security of the victims, yet in most cases they remained shrouded in a culture of silence and in the process destroyed families that were key foundations for nation building.

To increase service availability, he said, the health ministry was funding nine non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide outpatient rehabilitation throughout the country.

He added that the ministry had also commenced construction of an in-patient rehabilitation centre in the old Sekgoma Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (IHS) at an estimated cost of P50 million.

“The facility will be funded from Alcohol Levy Fund. The centre is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2022/23 financial year. Currently substance abuse clients are managed through a referral system, which includes NGOs and government health facilities,” he said.

He indicated that the ministry had also partnered with the Drug Advisory Programme (DAP) under the Colombo Plan to offer training on the Universal Treatment Curriculum (UTC) for substance use disorders and Universal Prevention Curricula (UPC) in Botswana.

“UTC training is on treatment on substance use disorders and it is meant to ensure consistency on provision of rehabilitation services, whilst UPC aims to address the need for knowledgeable and competent professionals working in the prevention field. Both curricula have been rolled out in Botswana with trainees from Botswana Police Service, Botswana Prisons Services, Ministry of Health and Wellness, Ministry of Basic Education and representatives from the NGO sector,” he explained.

At community level, he said, social workers through case management meet individuals and families affected by drug and substance abuse.

“Bo-Mma-Boipelego intervene by providing counselling and psycho-social support services and in instances where there is need for specialised mental health interventions, such are referred to the relevant institutions, owing to Bo-MmaBoipelego limited training on this field.”

The assistant minister further highlighted that any changes in terms of behaviour to substance and drug abuse must emanate from the people and not government, adding it was therefore time to openly speak about drug and substance abuse.

He added that the ministry would therefore continue to work with other stakeholders, NGOs, the media and other non-state actors to address challenges of drug and substance abuse.

Gaborone Central MP, Mr Tumisang Mangwegape-Healy, had asked the minister to give an update on government funded drug and substance abuse facilities and programmes available in Botswana.

MP Mangwegape-Healy also wanted an outline on how government facilitated drug abuse rehabilitation through its Social and Community Development department and whether there were any social workers trained to deal with such issues. ENDS