The Health Policy Project ended in 2016. Work continued under Health Policy Plus (HP+) until 2022.
PUBLICATION
Author(s): Ricardo Silva, Veena Menon, Wame Mosime, and Elise Lang
Primary Language: English
Date: 9/24/2015
Abstract:
Until recently, the primary focus of Botswana’s health agenda (as with many of its neighbors) has been on
infectious disease control—particularly HIV, since the country has one of the highest prevalence rates in the world (22% of adults ages 15–49 are HIV positive). Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) were not a priority on the global health spectrum, but rising affluence and urbanization have contributed to increases in NCDs in the last decade. In Botswana, NCDs are estimated to account for 31 percent of all deaths. The most common NCDs include cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and diabetes.
In recognition of these challenges, and with the overall emphasis shifting from care and treatment to prevention of these diseases, the USAID- and PEPFAR-funded Health Policy Project (HPP) provided technical assistance and programmatic support to the government of Botswana to analyze the resource implications of this shift for CVD, type II diabetes, and kidney disease.