The new survey, whose results were released and published on March 13, 2025, found that an overwhelming majority (87%) don't have medical aid cover. The survey results further indicate that citizens who are especially unlikely to have health insurance include adults with secondary schooling or less (91%–97%). Moreover, the survey suggests that the situation is also likely high amongst respondents experiencing moderate or high lived poverty (92–94%), and rural (94%) and semi-urban dwellers (90%). Lack of medical aid cover is also higher amongst women (89%) than men (85%). The survey also found that amongst those who lack medical aid coverage, more than eight in 10 say they don't have it because they can't afford it. About three percent say they don't have medical aid cover because they don't need health insurance/believe in good health and or they are too young to need health insurance. Only one percent said they don’t have cover because they don’t trust health insurance schemes.
On the other hand, the survey suggests that more than three-fourths or 78% of citizens indicate that government should ensure that all citizens have access to adequate healthcare, even if that means hiking taxes. “Almost eight in 10 Batswana (78%) agree that the government should ensure universal access to adequate health care, even if it means paying higher taxes,” read the survey findings. The ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has pledged to introduce the National Health Insurance Scheme to make quality, affordable healthcare not a privilege, but a right. The UDC said the scheme would protect people from the financial consequences of paying for healthcare services out of their pockets, hence reducing the risks of them being pushed into poverty because of the health costs.
“The development would enable Batswana to have medical aid that would ensure that they received quality health services timeously,” said Minister of Health, Dr Stephen Modise when debating the State of the Nation Address last year. He even added that private practitioners will be secure in the guarantee of cover for their services under the National Health Insurance Scheme. Modise said the ministry was working to ensure necessary legislative operators were put in place to facilitate the commencement of such a scheme. The minister also conceded that the country faced a shortage of medicines and medical supplies owing to high costs, inadequate funding, and exacerbated by inefficiencies in the supply chain. The Afrobarometer team in Botswana, led by Star Awards, interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,200 adult Batswana between July 6 and 19, 2024.
