GABORONE, Botswana (Chatnewstv.com) — Botswana President Duma Boko on Monday declared a public health emergency as the country faces severe shortages of essential medicines and medical equipment, announcing military oversight of supply distribution and a multimillion-dollar emergency plan.
“The work shall remain nonstop until the entire value chain of procurement has been fixed,” Boko said in a televised address. He added that managing the crisis would be “highly price sensitive due to our limited coffers.”
The finance ministry has approved 250 million pula ($18.3 million) in emergency funding to address the shortages, Boko said. Trucks carrying medical supplies were expected to leave the capital, Gaborone, the same day under military supervision, according to Reuters.
The shortages include critical treatments for cancer, HIV and tuberculosis, Health Minister Stephen Modise said earlier this month. The ministry has also suspended referrals for elective surgeries and non-urgent medical conditions, including organ transplants, due to debts of more than 1 billion pula ($55.2 million).
“I have no doubt that soon, very soon, we will overcome. This is definitely not insurmountable,” Modise said.
Botswana, a nation of 2.5 million people, has been hit by a downturn in the global diamond market and by cuts to U.S. aid, straining its economy and worsening unemployment and poverty. Before the cuts under former U.S. President Donald Trump, Washington funded a third of Botswana’s HIV response, according to UNAIDS.
UNICEF urged “urgent action” to protect children, warning of widespread malnutrition. “The president’s call underscores what we witness on the ground,” the agency said in a statement citing conditions in the town of D’Kar.
Boko, a 55-year-old Harvard-trained lawyer, became president last year after his Umbrella for Democratic Change party swept elections, ending 58 years of rule by the Botswana Democratic Party. He has pledged to reduce the country’s heavy dependence on diamond revenue.
