Botswana - Intergrated Health Service Plan 2010-2020

The Integrated Health Service Plan (IHSP) is the strategy that presents the vision for the improvement of the health status and health care of the population in the Republic of Botswana up to 2020. It identifies priority areas and aims to ensure that those health services that are being delivered will provide the highest possible benefits for all citizens.

A health system, defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), includes all the actors and activities the primary purpose of which is to promote, improve, or maintain the health of the citizens.

Organised health services, i.e. the health care system, are only one of the many factors for maintaining good health, recovering from ill health, or making a life with chronic illness easier. Health is influenced by many external factors such as environmental, social, and economic factors, and by factors related to lifestyles and to other sectors within society.

Health is priceless but health services cost money. Living within a defined budget means that a balance must be established between the needs and the resources that are available.

This strategy focuses on the issues related to the health care system that fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health (MOH), emphasizing the need for intersectoral cooperation in various fields such as environmental health, food safety, occupational health and safety, protection against smoking, the fight against alcoholism and addiction diseases, as well as the responsibility of the citizens for their own health.

This strategy gives priority to those health services that are most needed and most efficient, as well as most appreciated by the population, reflecting the views of both the experts and the public.