08 Nov 2021

Botswana will continue to enforce COVID-19 protocols through aggressive information and education campaigns in preparation for a possible fourth wave, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said in his State-of-the-Nation Address today. 

“In the same vein, work on improving resilience of the response through provision of oxygen plants, ventilators, concentrators and training of high care health workers in district and primary hospitals will continue,” he said. 

He said government had leveraged on its multiple collaborative partnerships to support the national COVID-19 response efforts. 

“Partnerships address supply chain, health information technology, vaccine acquisition and deployment,” he said. 

On vaccination statistics, President Masisi said government intended to have vaccinated 64 per cent of the eligible population by end of the year. 

He added that by November 1, approximately 745 000 people had taken their first dose while about 325 000 had been fully vaccinated. 

He further said 193 000 people contracted COVID-19, out of which 188 000 had recovered while 2 407 succumbed to the disease. 

Nevertheless, he said Botswana had done comparatively well regarding COVID-19 testing within the Sub-Saharan Africa region as a result of strategic deployment and equitable distribution of testing equipment across the country. 

President Masisi also said the country was among those with the lowest fatality rates in the region due to a resilient health care system and compliance to COVID-19 protocols. 

On other issues, Dr Masisi said government would continue the war against HIV/AIDS, adding that ‘our resolve to eliminate new infections by 2030 is still intact.’ 

He indicated that government would also continue to put equal emphasis on HIV prevention efforts that prioritised population groups more at risk of contracting the virus, including female sex workers, adolescent girls and young women as well as people with disabilities. 

“Government continues to prioritise districts with a higher disease burden in provision of HIV services such as behaviour change, condom use, voluntary male medical circumcision and the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP),” he added. 

Also, he said, primary healthcare remained the corner stone for delivering equitable and community-centred integrated health services.  Meanwhile, President Masisi revealed that some of the revenue from the Alcohol Levy was being used to construct a rehabilitation centre in Serowe, a facility that would be used for treatment. ENDS