The Ministry of Health is mandated with the overall oversight and delivery of health services for Batswana. It formulates acts, policies, regulations and norms, standards and guidelines for health services. It is a major provider of health services (80% to the population) through a range of public health facilities in different parts of the country. 95% of the population in Botswana lives within five kilometers of a health facility.
To promote health and provide integrated, holistic and sustainable, preventative, curative and rehabilitative quality health services to the nation
- Operations
- Primary Health Care
- Specialised Health Care
- Health Services
The Ministry departments are as follows:
1. Operations
Responsible for overall corporate governance; Human Resource and Administration, Development and Finance, Procurement & supply chain management and Facilities Management.
2. Primary Health Care – oversees the following departments:
I. Primary Care
Responsible for Primary Care policies and standards; Disease Management; Rehabilitation, Palliative Care and Quality Management.
II. Nursing & Midwifery
Responsible for Clinical Nursing and Midwifery Care standards, Ethics and Professionalism standards, Nursing & Midwifery Policies and Strategies, and Research & Quality Improvement.
III. Public Health
Responsible for Public Health Policies & Standards, Disease Prevention & Control, Health Promotion, Emergency Preparedness and Response.
IV. Primary Health Care-The department is responsible for primary hospitals, integrated health services, emergency medical services, primary health care support and monitoring & evaluation.
3. Specialised Health Care - oversees the following departments:
I. Specialised Health Care
Responsible for Clinical Policies & Standards, Disease Management, Rehabilitation, Palliative Care, Quality Management, and Clinical Safety for Referral and District Hospitals.
II. Clinical Support Services
Responsible for Bio-Medical Engineering standards, Emergency Medical Response standards, Therapeutic Standards, and Diagnostic Standards.
III. National Health Laboratory
Responsible for Specialised Laboratory Services, Pathology Services, Blood Transfusion Policies & Services, and Laboratory Diagnostic Standards.
4. Health Services
Oversees Health Regulation and other administrative functions such as Health Policy Research & Development, and Monitoring and Evaluation & Quality Improvement.
5. Transformation Office
This is a generic office responsible for facilitating the Permanent Secretary with Strategy coordination, Change Management, Reforms, Quality Assurance as well as Monitoring & Evaluation.
6. State-Owned Enterprises
The Ministry also has one parastatal and some entities that are in the in the process of becoming SOEs.
I) Botswana Medicines Regulatory Authority (BOMRA) – A parastatal under the Ministry.
II) Botswana Public Health Institute- Still operating as a department under Ministry of Health
