Patients die in hospitals as medication shortages persist – Report

An official investigation has revealed that Batswana are dying from treatable diseases like hypertension and tuberculosis in government health facilities because of drug shortages.

An investigation by the Ombudsman uncovered instances of patient deaths in which shortage of medication was cited as a contributory factor and prolonged inaction by the Ministry of Health (MoH). According to the report titled Under Strain: Inside Botswana’s Public Health Crisis, “Some health facilities indicated that they had recorded deaths associated with the unavailability of essential medicines for hypertension and tuberculosis.”