16 Jun 2022

Negotiations on the improvement of health personnel working conditions and environment are ongoing, Assistant Minister of Health Mr Setlhomo Lelatisitswe,  has revealed.

   Officially opening the Botswana Nurses Union (BONU) annual general conference in Francistown  Wednesday, he acknowledged that the nursing fraternity continued to face challenges such as lack of progression and training opportunities as well as overstaying and limited resources. 

   Mr Lelatisitswe said his ministry was working hand in hand with BONU.

    He said the 2020-2024 Nursing and Midwifery Strategy had accorded the ministry and the fraternities an opportunity to set a roadmap which identified achievements, challenges and health care direction.

   Turning to the conference theme,  BONU Resilience Against COVID 19: Nurses Welfare a Priority, Mr Lelatisitswe said although fighting the pandemic was a daunting task, nurses had proved that they were committed to upholding the ethical standard of saving lives. 

“Although the pandemic is not fully behind us, we have moved into a different phase,” he stated.

Mr Lelatisitswe said some of the country’s accomplishments were attributable to nurses’ commitment and determination to win the many health related battles facing the nation. 

Apart from COVID-19, nurses were also in the frontline for the elimination of smallpox and poliomyelitis, he said adding that they had been instrumental in saving the nation from the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

 The assistant minister said midwives continued to save mothers and babies.

Encouraging nurses to continue being the backbone of the national health care system, he pointed out that without good health, people would not be productive and progressive. 

For his part, outgoing BONU president, Mr Obonolo Rahube said COVID-19 had not only exposed health care system weaknesses but had also shown the importance of nurses in the fight against the pandemic. 

“Moreover, COVID-19, as I have alluded, did expose us on a wide range of issues, being, but not limited to, shortage of nurses, psychological and mental wellbeing, lack of resources like Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), lack of required skills; just to name a few,” he said. 

He urged government to address the challenges.

Mr Rahube pledged that BONU, through its members, would continue fighting the pandemic as it had done from the onset of COVID-19. 

The organisation would continue conducting COVID-19 vaccination including administering booster shots, he said. Francistown deputy mayor, Mr Lesego Kwambala and Phase 4 Customary Court deputy president Kgosi Sam Masunga called on government to empower nurses through further training as well as to improve health workers’ environment and working conditions. 

They also requested remuneration for duty call and nurses’ uniform allowance. 

Scheduled to end today, the conference is also expected to  elect a new executive committee. ends