Botswana has declared a national public health emergency following a severe shortage of essential medicines and medical equipment that has crippled its healthcare system. In a televised address on Monday, President Duma Boko announced that the country’s medical supply chain had failed, prompting the government to allocate emergency funding and involve the military to manage the crisis.
President Boko stated that the finance ministry had approved 250 million pula (R328 million) in emergency funding to procure vital supplies. “The medical supply chain run by central medical stores has failed,” Boko said in his address. “This failure has led to a severe disruption to health supplies countrywide.”
He assured the nation that the military would oversee the distribution of medicines, with the first trucks departing from the capital, Gaborone, on Monday evening to reach remote areas. “The work shall remain nonstop until the entire value chain of procurement has been fixed,” Boko added.
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A system under strain
The declaration comes after the country’s health ministry warned in early August that it was facing “significant challenges.” The ministry revealed it had accumulated debts of more than 1 billion pula (R1.3 billion) to private health facilities and suppliers, which compounded the supply issues.
Health Minister Dr Stephen Modise listed critical shortages that included medicines for managing hypertension, cancers, diabetes, HIV, and tuberculosis, as well as supplies for eye conditions, asthma, and mental and sexual health. The crisis also led to a temporary suspension of referrals for elective surgeries and other non-urgent medical conditions, including organ transplants.
Despite the grave situation, Dr Modise expressed confidence, stating, “I have no doubt that soon, very soon, we will overcome. This is definitely not insurmountable.”
The crisis is exacerbated by economic pressures on the diamond-rich nation. A downturn in the global diamond market, which accounts for about 80% of the country’s foreign earnings, has constrained the national budget.
This economic strain has been further intensified by sweeping cuts in US aid under the administration of President Donald Trump. According to UNAIDS, the US previously funded a third of Botswana’s HIV response, a critical programme now facing uncertainty. The combination of these factors has led to what many are calling a preventable emergency.
International organisations have voiced their concerns over the deepening crisis. The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, has called for “urgent action” to “protect the health and future of every child in Botswana,” highlighting that malnutrition is already a “daily struggle” in some regions. The declaration of a public health emergency underscores the gravity of the situation facing the southern African nation of 2.5 million people.
Image: Botswana’s President Duma Gideon Boko attends the inauguration of Namibia’s first female President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at the State House in Windhoek, Namibia, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
