Gaborone, 26 January 2015 - The Minister of Health, Honourable Dorcas Makgato hosted the new WHO Representative Dr Martins Ovberedjo in her office today. Dr Ovberedjo was accompanied by members of the WHO country office, Dr Tebogo Madidimalo, Mrs Lucy Maribe and Mr Moagi Gaborone.

Honourable Makgato congratulated and heartily welcomed Dr Ovberedjo to Botswana and appraised him of major developments including challenges regarding the countries health development. She highlighted the ongoing transformation including a major paradigm shift back to a deliberate focus on Primary Health Care, disease prevention and health promotion.  “I take NCD prevention and control very seriously. One of the innovations I’ve introduced is the monthly 20 km walk for health. I want to see WHO and corporates walking with us and recruiting others to join in. If we make it a norm as organizations, the public will catch on and the significance of exercise for health will become a norm. It will strengthen personal interest in managing the determinants of one’s own health”.

The Minister sighted two examples that motivated and inspired her to continue with this initiative. “I called my mother around 07.00hrs this morning and I could tell she was a little out of breath and when I inquired if she was okay she said, well you said we should walk to keep NCDs away, so I’ve just come from a long walk, that’s why I’m still panting for breath.”

The other example, is that of an elderly woman who was busy cleaning her yard under the baking sun and when she inquired why the lady was cleaning the yard at that time the response was, “well you said physical activity will help keep us healthy and that is what has motivated me”. The Honourable Minister believes that if more individuals understood this and more and consistent and concerted efforts went into it, more individuals and communities will take responsibility for their health. “It will be so much more effective if we brought the schools, especially primary schools into it. Socializing them into this early on will influence their values and the way they look at their health, their lifestyles including eating habits.” She cited the Test & Treat Programme as another initiative that is coming up very well and has a lot of promise. She also intimated that accreditation of facilities is also on track and that she will share progress in the near future.

For challenges, the Minister cited Human Resources capacity, inefficiencies, congestion and underutilization, perceptions and realities of service provision versus infrastructure, the referral system and management of partner relations. She asked WHO to help with the coordination of partner relations and support.

In response Dr Ovberedjo thanked the Honourable Minister and Botswana for availing a national of Botswana to serve as the WHO Regional Director. He congratulated the country for being a trailblazer in many areas. “ We will propose some things especially in relation to NCDs and the paradigm shift, in some instances we may even differ in opinion but we will always advise from evidence-based positions because our intention is always to put Botswana first, Botswana second and Botswana third in our technical engagement with the country. We want this country to excel and increase returns on health investment. We are looking to convene stakeholders to jointly work out an engagement strategy for NCD on a national scale. We will do this within the next six months.”

To that the Minister replied, “I’m glad we are speaking the same language”. The Hon Minister informed the WHO delegation that the Ministry has recently approved a schedule of quarterly meetings with stakeholders and reiterated the importance of regular meetings with stakeholders to review progress together and move forward in a coordinated fashion to address national health priorities.

Dr Ovberedjo, thanked the Honourable Minister and assured her that WHO is always standing ready to support government around the clock. He assured her of his commitment, that of the Country office, the Regional Director and the Director General. He presented copies of The Transformation Agenda of the WHO Secretariat 2015-2020 and the report of the Regional Director’s First 100 Days in Office: Leading Change for Enhanced Performance.

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For more information, please contact:

GABORONE Moagi, Email: gaboronem [at] who.int (gaboronem[at]who[dot]int)

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Below:

01. Honourable Minister discussing with WHO team

02. Dr Ovberedjo presenting RD's First 100 Days report

03. Minister Makgato making a point