Africa-Press – Botswana. BONELA has called on the government to prioritise restoration and strengthening of health services and urged immediate resumption of chronic disease management.
The Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) has condemned the government’s handling of the ongoing shortage of essential medicines and warned that the suspension of key health programmes risks worsening the country’s public health crisis.
While BONELA has acknowledged the acknowledgement of severe drug shortages at public health facilities by the Minister of Health, Stephen Modise, in Parliament recently, the organisation contends that the Ministry of Health is neglecting critical ethical standards by not adequately re-prioritising dispensing essential medicines.
Chronic illnesses
BONELA added that while it welcomes the ministry’s transparency, it questions the wisdom of suspending the Chronic Medicines Dispensing Programme (CMDP) and halting referrals for non-urgent care.
“The CMDP was vital for uninterrupted access to medication for patients with HIV, TB, diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and cancer,” BONELA said in a statement. “Its suspension risks widespread treatment defaulting, viral rebound, drug resistance, increased HIV transmission, and the breakdown of continuity of care for thousands.”
The organisation said the government’s decision raised troubling ethical and strategic issues and queried: “Who is advising the Ministry of Health? Were public health experts, development partners, and civil society consulted? Do these decisions reflect equity and the ethical principle of ‘do no harm?’”
P1bn in outstanding debt
Briefing Parliament recently, health minister Modise cited more than P1 billion in outstanding debts and said the government was seeking to reallocate funds from “non-life saving accounts”.
However, BONELA has countered that government spending priorities are skewed, pointing to continued expenditure on foreign trips, luxury vehicles, and allowances in a time of unavailability of basic medicines in hospitals.
“A health emergency requires triage that prioritises saving lives over non-essential programmes,” the organisation asserted.
Referrals
It called on the government to urgently reinstate the CMDP, resume referrals for chronic care patients, and reprioritise national spending across ministries to sustain core healthcare delivery.
BONELA also urged authorities to embrace inclusive decision-making by consulting all relevant stakeholders, including civil society and development partners.
“Health is a right, not a privilege,” it noted. “We urge immediate government action to prevent this financial crisis from escalating into a full-blown health crisis.”
The warning comes as hospitals and clinics across the country continue to report shortages of vital drugs, leaving patients vulnerable and public health workers frustrated.
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