Ensuring Healthy Lives, Promoting All�s Well-Being
Correspondent | Monday December 5, 2016 15:23
In line with this shift, a community support strategy is being implemented to strengthen community structures and linkages to facilitate delivery of health services. Issues of taking health as one’s own personal responsibility and good well-being will be central during NDP 11.
These will continue to be aligned to the four priority areas; organisational transformation, access to quality health care service, prevention with particular emphasis on primary health care and Economic Diversification Drive (EDD)
With the current global explosion in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and the high mortality associated with them, the next few years will be critical in how we address NCDs in Botswana.
As we chart the course towards achieving epidemic control of HIV, NCDs now pose an even greater epidemic that is complex in its origin, silent in manifestations, devastating in its effect on our health and yet easy to prevent.
There is therefore a compelling need to strategically invest in understanding the disease spectrum of NCDs through research, to develop a strong investment case towards establishing structures across all sectors for a comprehensive national response to NCDs, laying greater emphasis on prevention and within the wider context of the sustainable development agenda.
Improvement of Access to Quality Health Care Services for All
Implementation of this strategy for ultimate improvement of health outcomes will be achieved through; strengthening social infrastructure, improving human capital, addressing health management systems, improving pre-hospital care, standardisation of medical equipment, strengthening of specialised services, implementation of health care standards, ensuring quality assurance through accreditation of health facilities, and promotion of work ethics.
Strengthening Rehabilitation Services
Rehabilitation services are currently provided in tertiary and district hospitals, and by a few partners with very limited services at community level in the country. During NDP 11, a re-structuring of these services will be undertaken to improve their coordination and accessibility as well as to strengthen community based rehabilitation services.
Sustainable Health and Health Care Services for All
Sustainable health and healthcare encompass factors including disease burden, cost of care, access to reliable information for decision making, effectiveness of available preventative strategies and indirect determinants of health which are social and environmental as well as various contributions from partners in healthcare service delivery.
During NDP 11, we will complete and implement the Health Financing Strategy to improve the efficiency and sustainability of our Health system to achieve better services and improve population health outcomes. Furthermore, the Essential Health Service Package (EHSP) will be made the cornerstone of health service provision through health promotion, preventative, curative and rehabilitative care.
Successful implementation of EHSP will improve access, reduce referrals and unnecessary delays, enhance equity and promote utilisation of health services by all.
This will be achieved through; expanding specialised services to the districts, expanding and rehabilitating the current infrastructure to make them more habitable, improving outreach services, enhancing integration of health services in priority areas, i.e. HIV, TB, Sexual Reproduction Health, mental health, maternal and child health and rehabilitation, strengthening of health promotion initiatives with focus on gender, age appropriateness and socioeconomic status, ensuring availability of minimum medical equipment package at all levels of service delivery, implementing quality improvement framework and initiatives, strengthening the stewardship role of government in the health system and effectively regulate both public and private health providers, and monitoring and evaluating health sector initiatives
* Excerpts from Minister Dorcas Makgato’s NDP II Promises