Botswana News

Jwaneng—Health leaders and polio experts from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa convened in Jwaneng for the 25th Inter‑Country Certification Committee (ICCC) meeting, reinforcing regional solidarity and shared responsibility to sustain a polio‑free Africa.

Over the course of three days, participants reviewed progress, assessed remaining risks and agreed on priority actions to strengthen cross‑border collaboration, routine immunization and disease surveillance, against the backdrop of a shifting global polio landscape.

Gaborone—Eight Southern African countries – Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe are joining forces to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks before they spread to communities.

Palapye—Botswana has taken a decisive step in its fight against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) with the official signing of the National AMR Action Plan during the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) commemoration held in Palapye. The event showcased a unified national commitment to protect public health, animal health, and the environment through a strengthened One Health approach.

A milestone endorsed across government

Gaborone—The World Health Organization (WHO) Botswana, in collaboration with the Botswana Public Health Institute (BPHI), organized a one‑week workshop on the validation and costing of Botswana’s National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS), and development of NAPHS narrative that will be signed by One Health sectors during the launch, marking a critical milestone in the country’s efforts to strengthen national and global health security.

Gaborone—Botswana’s health profile is changing—and not always in ways we would hope. In September 2025, the Ministry of Health, working with the World Health Organization (WHO), released preliminary findings from the latest STEPS survey, a national study that looks at risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Botswana reaches a significant milestone in fostering the multi-sectoral collaboration to strengthen the One Health approach for health security and resilience.

Gaborone, Botswana – The Ministry of Health (MoH), supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), launched a critical two-week mission in September 2025 to evaluate Botswana's health security capabilities at its key Points of Entry (POEs).

The Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BoMRA) successfully concluded a five-day assisted self-benchmarking exercise from 11 to 15 August 2025, with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO). The assessment, conducted using the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT), reviewed all regulatory functions to guide BoMRA’s journey toward achieving WHO Maturity Level 3 (ML3), the global standard for an integrated, fully functional pharmaceutical regulatory system.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently presented a report to the Minister of Health Dr Stephen Modise, following a week-long assessment of the country’s National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS), conducted between 7 and 11 July 2025. The mission aimed to identify gaps and recommend actions to strengthen the safety, coordination, and sustainability of blood services.

In an expression of strengthened partnership and renewed commitment to multilateralism, the WHO Botswana Country Office recently hosted two high-level courtesy calls from newly appointed UN leaders, Ms. Wenyan Yang, the UN Resident Coordinator in Botswana, and Ms. Nthisana Motsete-Phillips, Botswana’s incoming Permanent Representative to Switzerland and the United Nations in Geneva.