Botswana Health Policies and Alternative Health Services Implications for Holistic Health Services Provision
Main Article Content
Keywords
Botswana, Health, Policies, Regulations, Traditional Healers, Alternative Health Practitioners
Abstract
This article reviews the policies and guidelines that govern medical practice in Botswana with the aim of establishing implications for holistic health services provision in the country. Based on both review of literature and fieldwork findings from health experts, the article established that although many Batswana make use of alternative health systems, there are no policies to regulate the practice of alternative medicine and, especially, to allow collaboration of both medical and alternative health practitioners. The article recommends that Botswana should establish policies and guidelines to govern the practice of alternative health systems guided by World Health Organisation recommendations.
Article Metrics Graph
References
Government of Botswana (1986). The Nurses and Midwives Act, Gaborone.
Government of Botswana (2001). Medical, Dental and Pharmacy Act, Gaborone.
Government of Botswana (2011). National Health Policy 'Towards a Healthier Botswana', Gaborone.
Government of Nigeria (2007). Traditional Medicine Policy for Nigeria, https://www.health.gov.ng/doc/TraditionalMedicine.pdf accessed 01/08/2012.
Green, E. (1999). Indigenous Theories of Contagious Diseases, California: Alta Mira Press.
Jensen, K. E. and Katirayi, L. (2011). The Faith of Our Fathers: Collaborating with traditional leaders in HIV and AIDS response, in Togarasei, L. Mmolai, S. K. and Nkomazana, F. (eds), The Faith Sector and HIV/AIDS in Botswana: Responses and Challenges, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, 158-179.
Latunji, O.O. and Akimenyi, O.O. (2018). Factors influencing health-seeking behaviour among civil servants in Ibadan, Nigeria. Annals of Ibadan Postgraduate Medicine 16(1), 52-60.
Togarasei, L. Mmolai, S. K. and Kealotswe, O. N. 2016. 'Quinine,' 'ditaola' and the 'Bible': investigating Batswana health seeking practices, Journal for the Study of Religion 29:2, 97-117.
World Health Organization (1948). WHO Constitution.
World Health Organization (2003). Fifty-Six World Health Assembly Traditional Health, Report by Secretariat.
World Health Organization (2005). National policy on traditional medicine and regulation of herbal medicines.
World Health Organization (2013). WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023.