Botswana announces public health emergency on the lack of medicine Health news

The crisis is linked to the high prices of medicines, a national budget that is shrinking and discounts in American aid.

Botswana has declared a state of public health emergency, as President Douma Boko said that the national medical supply chain has collapsed due to the treasures of the government exhausted and sharp discounts in the United States.

This announcement came on Monday after the Ministry of Health and wellness warned earlier this month that the system was “very tense” with 75 million dollars due to private health facilities and suppliers.

He pointed to the lack of medicines for a group of diseases, including high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, asthma, mental and sexual health, and stated that optional surgeries have been postponed.

The Ministry of Health also said that there is a shortage of bandages and sewing.

“The medical supply chain, as managed by central medical stores, failed,” President Boko said in a televised speech on Monday. “This failure has caused a severe disturbance in the country’s health supplies.”

Boko said that the Ministry of Finance had agreed earlier 250 million Paul ($ 18.7 million) in emergency financing for purchases, adding that the army will supervise the distribution of emergency medicines, with the first shipments sent immediately from the capital, Gaburon, with priority to the disadvantaged rural areas.

Boko added: “The current prices (for medicine) are often enlarged from five to 10 times. In the current economic conditions, this scenario is not sustainable,” Boko added.

The crisis is also linked to a national budget that it shrinks due to the continuous contraction in the global diamond market.

Botswana, with a population of 2.5 million, is one of the largest diamond producers in the world. Its vast reserves, which were discovered after independence from Britain in 1966, constituted about 80 percent of foreign profits in the country.

However, sales were placed in recent years, and a government that suffers from financial distress was paid to suspend some ministerial purchases last month.

A sweeping discounts from the United States during the era of President Donald Trump has strained the economy. Before the discounts, the United States funded a third of Botswana HIV responseAccording to UNIDS, it provided 12 million dollars through the Global Fund for Malaria and tuberculosis.

The United Nations Children’s Children’s Agency (UNICEF) said that “urgent work” is necessary to address the deep medical crisis in the country, adding that one out of five children suffering from underweight in a western area near the Namibi border.