The UAE has flown 91 tonnes of critical medical aid to Botswana to bolster the African country's response to a growing healthcare crisis.
The country's President Duma Boko declared a public health emergency in August over an acute shortage of essential medicine and equipment. The UAE's humanitarian mission aims to ease the pressure on Botswana's healthcare sector and ensure clinics and hospitals can continue to provide life-saving treatment.
The aid shipment was received by Mahash Al Hameli, the UAE's non-resident ambassador to Botswana, who presented it to Lawrence Ookeditse, Botswana’s acting minister of health, state news agency Wam reported on Friday.
Mr Al Hameli said the relief campaign demonstrated the UAE's commitment to helping Botswana address its pressing healthcare challenges. Mr Ookeditse expressed his thanks to the UAE for supporting Botswana.
The UAE sent a plane carrying 96 tonnes of medical supplies to Botswana on September 22. “The dispatch of medical aid to Botswana comes within the framework of the UAE’s global humanitarian role in responding swiftly to health crises, strengthening the health systems of friendly African countries and enhancing their capacity to curb the spread of epidemics and infectious diseases," Dr Tareq Al Ameri, chairman of the UAE Aid Agency, said at the time.
“The UAE’s medical assistance will help support the stock of medicine and essential medical supplies for surgical operations, while also enhancing the capacity of the health sector to provide medical services to a large segment of the population who directly rely on the public healthcare system, especially children, women and the elderly.”
The initiative is part of the UAE's wider humanitarian drive to strengthen health sector crises, particularly across Africa.
