29 Jul 2026

The government has made progress in stabilising medicine supply situation with major deliveries of essential drugs and other medical commodities in public health facilities across the country.

Updating Parliament on Tuesday on medicines and other medical supplies in the country, the Assistant Minister of Health, Mr Lawrence Ookeditse said in recent weeks, significant quantities of critical medicines had arrived in the country, including essential antibiotics, medicines for treatment of blood pressure diabetes, pain and allergies.

He cited that just in the current month, the government received seven-month supply of the much-awaited antibiotics as well as first line antihypertensive like furosemide, HCT and amlodipine, individually and in their combinations.

Also the country has received first line antidiabetics like metformin among others and Mr Ookeditse noted that accordingly, since June 2026, the availability of diabetes medicines had improved from 31 per cent to 44 per cent, heart health medicines from 17 per cent to 38 per cent, anti-infective products from 22 per cent to 36 per cent, when compared to three months ago, when the situation was really bad.

He said additional consignments of other medicines continued to arrive with further deliveries expected all the way until September 2026.

The assistant minister said access to essential medicine was one of the cornerstones of a functional health system, hence the government fully recognised the anxiety and inconvenience experienced by patients whenever medicines were unavailable.

“We acknowledge these concerns and assure this house that restoring a reliable supply of medicines remains our number one priority. We will not rest until this milestone is achieved,” he added.

With these recent arrivals and the others anticipated in the coming weeks, Mr Ookeditse highlighted that they did not expect any shortages for anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetics and antibiotics for the next six to seven months and that would give them time to make orders for more without any pressure.

Furthermore, he stated that last Thursday, they received more on the anti-allergy medicines and long-awaited pain management products, noting that on the HIV space, they continued to receive the core first line drugs like dolutegravir based formulation including dual therapy, with most deliveries expected to be completed by end of this month.

He said Global API challenges for some second line drugs had been noted but should be resolved in the coming month.

Moreover, he said that the government has 33-line items in transit comprising IV fluids, anaesthesia medications as well as emergency drugs and over 45 other line items to be ready for shipping starting next week.

Based on the current consumption patterns, the assistant minister revealed that these medicines were expected to sustain the national requirements for approximately six to seven months and this represented a major milestone in restoring confidence in the public medicines supply system and provided a much-needed buffer as broader reforms continued to take effect.

Mr Ookeditse noted that they were working with their international partners as well as local and regional suppliers, citing that a long-term supply plan was taking shape, helping to significantly bring down the price of the commodities.

He also said government had implemented several immediate interventions to restore medicine availability.

Mr Ookeditse said they were informed that in March 2026, the Ministry of Finance granted the Ministry of Health an exemption from selected provisions of the Public Procurement Act through Statutory Instrument No. 35 of 2026.

According to Mr Ookeditse, that had provided greater flexibility for strategic procurement while maintaining transparency, accountability and preference for locally manufactured medicines where appropriate.

In addition, he said emergency procurement had been undertaken both locally and internationally to replenish depleted stocks and throughout the process, government had ensured that all medicines procured were registered or appropriately authorised by the Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority to guarantee their safety, quality and efficacy.

He also reiterated that the government had also prioritised timely payment of suppliers, with payment processes now being expedited to meet the prescribed 30-day service standard, adding that the intervention was rebuilding supplier confidence and improving the reliability of deliveries. ENDS