28 May 2023

The Assistant Minister of Health Mr Setlhomo Lelatisitsw says his ministry is committed to resolve many of the challenges that hinder full and optimum execution of duties performed by nurses.

Speaking at the 2023 Botswana Nurses Day (BONU) celebrations on Thursday in Palapye, Mr Lelatisitswe said his ministry waa aware of the challenges faced by nurses in their daily work.

“We know of their constant cry to have their working conditions improved. Their unions have been vocal in that area,” he said.

Mr Lelatisitswe said his ministry is always ready to engage BONU leaders in appropriate fora to ironresolve issues as they arise. 

He said  a conducive environment existed for dialogue on all issues affecting the nursing fraternity. 

He said his ministry is taking these issues seriously and will ensure that a common ground is found  and  assured the nurses that the issues raised have been noted and feedback would be rendered at the appropriate time.

Mr Lelatisitswe said their participation at  the event as the Ministry of Health, was demonstrated that they valued nurses and the role they played in the country’s health system.

Mr Lelatisitswe said nurses’ amazing work and contribution towards healthcare in all its forms throughout human life could never go unnoticed. 

“It is for this reason that we are happy to celebrate with you and give you words of encouragement, so that you continue with the good work you have done for Batswana,” he said.

He said nurses had always been there for people through thick and thin, including in very remote areas.

He further said that Nurses have not felt tired to save lives for people regardless of the size of the village nor how hard to reach the area is. 

“Who can forget the sacrificial position that nurses and other health care workers put themselves in during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

He said many people lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and nurses were heroes and heroines who paid the ultimate prize in order to save lives.

He said it was indeed nurses and other healthcare workers who helped in achieving President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Reset Agenda priority number one, of saving Batswana’s lives from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He thanked nurses for making this possible and for the many sacrifices they continued to make for the nation.

Mr Lelatisitswe said although COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency, nurses were still seized with saving lives of the people from other numerous conditions. 

This includes non-communicable diseases which are now threatening the lives and livelihoods of people in more severe ways than they ever did before, he said.

He said nurses are the future as the theme of the day attested. Without them, he said, the government cannot achieve the health for all and the universal health coverage as enshrined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and our own Vision 2036.

Mr Lelatisitswe said through the Nursing and Midwifery Strategy which was launched in 2021, the ministry is committed to ensuring that all its nurses and midwives are supported and facilitated to serve the country.

He said already, hundreds of nurses and midwives have been sent out for higher training and specialisation in different disciplines and some nurses and midwives have been deployed to serve as District Health Management Teams (DHMT) heads adding that these were some of the good developments that showed ministry commitment as in the advancement of the nursing and midwifery cadres.

BONU president Mr Peter Baleseng said nurses could deliver proper healthcare if their issues were addressed. 

He said BONU and the Ministry of Health agreed that a nursing and midwifery functional structure should be implemented as soon as possible. 

Nonetheless, he  said that BONU was concerned that even years later the structure has not been created.

Mr Baleseng called the health ministry  to implement the nursing and midwifery functional structure with immediate effect in order to both rationalise the ministry’s operations and open up progression channels for nurses.

He also called on the ministry to develop legislation that would license nurses to run their own practices in the private sector like  other health professionals. 

“That would create economic opportunity for nurses at all levels,” he said. Ends