28 Aug 2026

The proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) has been met with optimism in Toteng where residents see the potential for improved access to healthcare but remain concerned about its affordability.

Speaking during a kgotla meeting on Tuesday addressed by officials from the Ministry of Health on the proposed NHI, community members acknowledged the potential of the initiative.

However, they questioned whether it would be implemented effectively and if ordinary Batswana would be able to shoulder its financial demands.

One resident, Mr Cornelius Murangi, said NHI could bring significant benefits to communities if properly executed and monitored.

He cautioned that Batswana had seen government programmes that were welcomed at inception but later struggled during implementation. 

Thus emphasising that the promise of better healthcare would mean little if government failed to follow through on the initiative once it has been introduced.

His concern was echoed by another resident, Mr Morapedi Totang, who said government should confront what he described as a recurring gap between collecting public views and turning them into functioning programmes.

“Meaningful consultation should ultimately translate into visible improvements in people’s lives and government should ensure that the system does not lose momentum between consultation, policy formulation and actual implementation,” he said.

For Mr Moitlamedi Motsamai, the most immediate concern lay in the pockets of ordinary Batswana who would be expected to contribute towards the proposed insurance scheme.  

His concern was whether low-income households would afford given the limited income.

The consultation formed part of the efforts of the Ministry of Health to inform, educate and collect concepts from communities to make the NHI one that would benefit citizens. 

Earlier on, Dr Kesalefa Kesalefa from the health ministry said government intended to use NHI to ensure that Batswana had access to quality healthcare services, while simultaneously creating a health financing system capable of sustaining service delivery even during periods of economic difficulty.

Dr Kesalefa said the proposed system would be funded through contributions collected through the tax system and would be designed to cover every Motswana.

He said the intention was to ensure that people could access health services regardless of where they were in the country.

“The initiative will strengthen the health sector by providing a more sustainable financing mechanism, allowing healthcare services to remain accessible even when the national economy is under pressure,” he said. ENDS