6th August 2021
Own Correspondent
The high number of people requiring medical oxygen in Botswana has meant that health facilities were overly strained and have found it difficult to cope. According to officials sources there are 115,220 confirmed COVID-19 cases from 30/3/2020 with 16,603 active cases, 96964 recoveries and 1653 fatalities, in a small landlocked country with only 2.1 million people.
This has created some panic, fear, stress and anxiety amongst Batswana. Individual posts in social media platforms, also painted a picture of a sorry situation in both public and private health facilities.
“It therefore, pained us more than anything else, to see people suffering and others dying on account of shortages of medical oxygen, in addition to other complications caused by COVID-19,” said Dr Edwin Dikoloti, Minister of Health and Wellness.
He said, “We therefore, had to act with speed and urgency, to avert a looming health crisis in the middle of a pandemic, which was already having a huge toll on our people.”
Botswana has therefore installed a 25 tonne oxygen tank at the country’s COVID-19 high care hospital: Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital. Prior to its installation, Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital could only supply oxygen to 100 patients.
With the said 25 tonne oxygen tank installed, the hospital can now increase its oxygen supply capacity to a total 195 patients. As at this week, the hospital admission stood at about 120 patients, which means they can now afford to admit 75 more patients.
To further capacitate Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital, Government has also availed funds to recruit 50 nurses, 40 health auxiliaries, and 15 medical doctors. The hospital has also been allowed to engage private practitioners on a locum basis, that is, in cases where their regular doctors are unable to perform their duties. Recruitment of these personnel is ongoing with some having already taken their offer letters. In addition to these measures, the hospital is currently undertaking an assessment of its overall capabilities, with a view to increasing the 195 beds that have access to oxygen supply.
At two of the country’s premier referral hospitals, Princess Marina Hospital and Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital; the Ministry of Health and Wellness will be recruiting 50 nurses for each of the two hospitals. Another 40 nurses will be recruited 40 for the Greater Gaborone DHMT and another 40 for the Greater Francistown DHMT. As for the Scottish Livingstone Hospital in Molepolole, we will be recruiting 30 nurses. In addition, we will post about 47 medical interns who have just graduated from the University of Botswana, to some of our health facilities, once they have regularised their registration with the Botswana Health Professions Council. Other health facilities, will also be given additional staff to augment our front liners who are currently overwhelmed and highly overworked.
Botswana like most countries in Africa and elsewhere, has in recent weeks, been experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, which medical researchers and commentators alike, have termed “the third wave.”
According to officials before the COVID-19 pandemic, Botswana was consuming oxygen of around 100 000 kg per month. At the peak of this pandemic in July 2021, we found ourselves needing around 200 000 kg of oxygen. This shows that the demand has doubled.
“The high number of people requiring medical oxygen meant that our hospitals and health facilities were overly strained and found it difficult to cope. This understandably created some panic, fear, stress and anxiety amongst our people. Media reports including individual posts in social media platforms, also painted a picture of a sorry situation in both public and private health facilities,” said Dr Edwin Dikoloti, Ministry of Health and Wellness
It therefore, pained us more than anything else, to see people suffering and others dying on account of shortages of medical oxygen, in addition to other complications caused by COVID-19.
“As part of our interventions, we installed a 25 tonne oxygen tank at the country’s COVID-19 high care hospital: Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital. This was done in the last week of July 2021. Prior to its installation, Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital could only supply oxygen to 100 patients. With the said 25 tonne oxygen tank installed, the hospital can now increase its oxygen supply capacity to a total 195 patients. As at this week, the hospital admission stood at about 120 patients, which means they can still afford to admit 75 more patients,” said Dikoloti.
He said, “We have also availed funds for them(Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital) to recruit 50 nurses, 40 health auxiliaries, and 15 medical doctors. The hospital has also been allowed to engage private practitioners on a locum basis, that is, in cases where their regular doctors are unable to perform their duties.”
Recruitment of these personnel is ongoing with some having already taken their offer letters. In addition to these measures, the hospital is currently undertaking an assessment of its overall capabilities, with a view to increasing the 195 beds that have access to oxygen supply.
At two of our referral hospitals, Princess Marina Hospital and Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital; we will be recruiting 50 nurses for each of the two hospitals. We will also be recruiting 40 nurses for the Greater Gaborone DHMT and another 40 for the Greater Francistown DHMT. As for the Scottish Livingstone Hospital in Molepolole, we will be recruiting 30 nurses.
In addition, we will post about 47 medical interns who have just graduated from the University of Botswana, to some of our health facilities, once they have regularised their registration with the Botswana Health Professions Council. Other health facilities, will also be given additional staff to augment our front liners who are currently overwhelmed and highly overworked.
In Selebi Phikwe, the DHMT has partnered with BCL hospital to complement each other, so that there is never any time in which health services can be disrupted during this critical time. When they are experiencing oxygen supply challenges, they utilize the oxygen supply at the BCL hospital.
The Greater Francistown DHMT has adopted a similar partnership with the private sector. Some of the leading district hospitals (Mahalapye, Scottish Memorial, Sekgoma Memorial and Letsholathebe II Memorial), have 25 to 30 tonne oxygen tanks which are fully functional.
Some oxygen companies have been engaged to fill them up as and when there is a need. The same applies to Princess Marina and Nyangabgwe referral hospitals.
Further, at Princess Marina Hospital, an additional oxygen generating plant was installed last week and is expected to be functional in mid-August 2021. The new Shakawe primary hospital also has an oxygen generating plant in place. The hospital will be opened for public use before the end of the year. It is currently being used as a COVID-19 isolation centre.
The ministry also issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) to Supply, Install and Commission Medical Oxygen Generating Plants at all its primary hospitals. The tender closed on 27 July 2021 and the evaluation process has started. Award is expected before the end of this month.
An emergency Request for Quotation was also issued last week for the supply of one hundred and fifty (150) 10-15 litres per minute Oxygen Concentrators. The requirement was to have local companies supply stock that was locally available in order to complement the current oxygen availability situation.
To date, two hundred and sixty one (261) locally available 10 litre per minute oxygen concentrators have been delivered and distributed to our health facilities, to augment oxygen supply in high dependency areas. With Botswana’s strategy of home-based care for the majority of its COVID-19 patients, Dikoloti says Government is in the process of purchasing oxygen concentrators that will be used for those requiring mild to moderate oxygen supply, especially in home/community isolation.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), has given Botswana gave the Botswana Government (10) oxygen concentrators on Friday 30 July 2021. These concentrators distributed to Gaborone and Lobatse COVID-19 treatment facilities.
Debswana also gave us ten (10) oxygen concentrators which were also sent to our health facilities. On Saturday 31 July 2021, De Beers Group also gave us ten (10) oxygen concentrators which have since been distributed to COVID-19 treatment centres in Boteti, SSKB and Selibe Phikwe areas.
On Wednesday 4 August 2021, the Chinese Embassy in Gaborone gave us eight (8) oxygen concentrators and twenty (20) ventilators which are in the process of being distributed as well.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness is also working in collaboration with the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) to sustain oxygen supply capacity, but to also increase hospital admission levels. As such, BDF health facilities at SSKB and Thebephatshwa, will also be supplied with two (2) oxygen generating plants. The BDF has a 120 bed capacity field hospital, which will be supplied with oxygen concentraters.
Overwhelmed with patients affected by COVID-19, Sidilega Private Hospital is erecting a thirty (30) bed field hospital complete with adequate oxygen supply, to be operational in 6 weeks.
