COSTLY AND DEADLY

High Blood Pressure on the rise in Botswana • It is the most prevalent condition in Botswana • Part of health conditions that kill many annually • Govt. hit by medication shortages in health facilities

Hypertension, better known as High Blood Pressure, affects more people than any other non-communicable disease in Botswana. According to the Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr Christopher Nyanga, studies on the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Botswana estimate that nearly 30 percent of the adult population lives with hypertension.

Hypertension now joins HIV with the two each affecting hundreds of thousands of people. HIV cases alone are estimated at around 370 000. More than 90 percent of these people are on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART’S).

Hypertension like many other non-communicable diseases such as Diabetes, Heart diseases, stroke and Cancer amongst others, is not curable but largely managed by medication that has to be taken for a lifetime. But if not managed well and controlled, complications of different kinds arise and death might occur.

In the country, an estimated 46 percent of deaths are caused by NCDs annually, the same proportion of deaths as communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions combined.

“This therefore means that in Botswana, NCDs kill more people than HIV, TB and Malaria combined. It is important to note that these diseases have far-reaching health, economic and societal impact as these deaths affect not only the elderly but they kill and debilitate younger adults who are parents or breadwinners and able-bodied contributors to the economy.”

Furthermore, while individuals may survive the occurrence of NCDs such as stroke, Dr. Nyanga said they may be significantly debilitated by it such that their quality of life and welfare will be greatly affected. Nyanga told The Midweek Sun that government spends an average of P1.5 billion each year to purchase medications for all its facilities across the country. ART medications also take a huge chunk of the ministry budget, annually. The ministry uses more than P600 million for procurement of ARTs. And since Botswana does not have local medicine manufacturers, most medications are bought from outside the country. Because of this reason, it normally takes a long time for medical supplies to reach the country. Nyanga admitted that currently, the country is experiencing challenges in availing medications to its health facilities for conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. “The situation got worse during Covid-19 where travel restrictions and lockdowns that were imposed by various countries to manage the spread of the disease led to more delays in delivery of procured medicines. “These delays are partly responsible for the current shortages of some medicines in the country,” Nyanga explained.

However, they have notified health workers to explore available alternative medications where possible in order to avoid situations where patients eventually leave health facilities without any medications. Nyanga advises Batswana to adopt healthy lifestyles such as regular physical activity, stop smoking, reduce harmful use of alcohol and adopt healthy eating habits. He also said people should get their health checked regularly so that early signs can be detected and attended timeously.