Africa-Press – Botswana. Sidilega Private Hospital in Gaborone has established a bone marrow transplant facility.
The service will not only bring services closer to people, but will also transform the health care services in Botswana. Clinical Haematologist Dr Elizabeth Botsile said in an interview,July 26 that the bone marrow transplant service was the first of its kind in Botswana and a one stop service that would reduce government expenses.
Explaining the procedure, Dr Botsile said bone marrow transplant was a complex procedure for patients with otherwise incurable chemo- and immune –sensitive malignant and non-malignant disorders such as auto-immune diseases. “Without the lifesaving procedure, patients could eventually succumb to their diseases,” she said.
She said Botswana was the second country in the SADC region to offer bone marrow treatment to patients in the region, adding that many Batswana lives would be saved as they would have accessible services near.
“Government has been incurring a lot of expenses getting the service outside the African continent, in countries like India,” she said.
That expense would now drastically reduce as Princess Marina Hospital was now, through a public private partnerships arrangement bringing patients needing the treatment to Sidilega Private Hospital.
She said since April 2022, they treated 21 patients with 20 being successful.
Dr Botsile said they had four nurses trained to offer the service, with three certified as Stem cell collection technologist.
The Public relations manager at Sidilega Private Hospital, Ms Mmabatho Machobane said Sidilega Private Hospital aimed to bridge the gap in healthcare provision and to be responsive to service needs in the health sector.
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