Professional healthcare exported to Swaziland

Mothusi Jowawa | Friday July 11, 2014 15:29

Honourable Sibongile Simelane, the Minister of Health in the Swaziland gorvenment was very excited about the newly found relationship with the highly revered Boitekanelo College.

“Sometime early this year, my officers from the Ministry of Health went on a benchmarking trip to Botswana where they were warmly welcomed and given a chance to tour the facilities of Boitekanelo College. It gives me great pleasure to be standing in front of all of you today to make official our relationship with your respectable institution from Botswana,” Honourable Simelane said in her address before the signing ceremony.

The Minister further said that her country was on a major drive towards ensuring that all the citizens of that country were exposed to quality healthcare services. That can only be achieved with the support and involvement of all stakeholders including Boitekanelo College, which has now become a new “friend” to the Swazi people.

The local institution was represented by the Managing Director Dr Tiro Mampane, who was accompanied by the institution’s Principal Isabella Magetse as well as a team from the Public Relations and Marketing office of BC.

Dr Mampane was equally ecstatic and looking forward to the many years that they are going to have with the Swazi. The memorandum of understanding included among others student internships with the Swaziland Hospital, specifically looking at Emergency Medicine Services Students, in-service staff training as well as students enrollment from Swaziland to BC in Botswana.

“We are already privileged to have some students from the Kingdom of Swaziland attending classes in our Botswana campus and hope to have more of the Swaziland students learning with us. Our institution is made up of people who are very passionate about what they do and we intend to roll out our qualification to the rest of the SADC and African region,” Dr Mampane said. The relationship that was entered into also saw a total of 20 trainee students in Emergency Medicine Services getting clinical attachment with RFM Hospital in Manzini. The students started their internship this week and are expected to be based in Swaziland for a period of six months before returning home to graduate.