Botswana has declared a public health emergency after the collapse of its national medical supply chain. President Duma Boko said the crisis was triggered by depleted government funds and steep cuts in aid from the United States.
The Ministry of Health had earlier warned that hospitals and clinics were running short of drugs for illnesses including hypertension, cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, asthma, and mental health. Elective surgeries have been postponed due to shortages of dressings and sutures, while $75 million is owed to private health providers and suppliers.
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President Boko said the Ministry of Finance had approved 250 million pula, about 18.7 million dollars, in emergency funding. He announced that the military will oversee the distribution of medicines, with shipments starting from the capital, Gaborone, and priority given to rural areas.
The government linked the crisis to a shrinking national budget, worsened by the downturn in the global diamond market. Botswana, with a population of 2.5 million, remains one of the world’s largest diamond producers, with the mineral accounting for around 80 percent of its foreign earnings.
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