Interview: China's support critical to Botswana's fight against COVID-19, says hospital manager

GABORONE, Botswana, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's support in such areas as vaccines, medical equipment and personnel has been very critical to Botswana's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since its outbreak, said Kobamelo Motshidisi, manager at the Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital -- Clinical Services.

According to the health ministry, Botswana has so far recorded over 253,000 coronavirus infections and more than 2,500 COVID-19 related deaths, which has been described by many medical experts as a drop in an ocean when compared to other developing countries across the globe.

Botswana could not have attained such an accomplishment without the "unwavering support we got from China since the outbreak of the pandemic," said Motshidisi in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"I can testify that the support was really critical in dealing with the challenges brought by COVID-19 pandemic," said Motshidisi, who manages the only referral hospital in the northern part of Botswana that serves more than half of its population of 2.3 million.

Motshidisi recalled that vaccination campaign in the country was boosted since it received a donation of 200,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines in April 2021.

"Friendly relations between Botswana and China ensured that we were able to opt for the Sinovac vaccine. We chose to intensify the vaccination campaign with the Sinovac, and we were very satisfied," he said.

Sinovac vaccines produce very few side effects, and this helped ensure that people do not show any hesitancy to vaccinate for fear of side effects, hence Botswana is one of the few African countries which have surpassed the World Health Organization's vaccination target of 40 percent of its population by December, he said.

"Medical teams to Botswana consisted of medical workers from various specialties such as cardiology, gynecology, surgery and anesthesiology," he said, recalling the long history of bilateral cooperation in the field of health since 1981. "These services are much appreciated by the population, and we have a lot of people coming for consultation."

Motshidisi added that the Chinese medical team is also assisting in training local doctors and healthcare workers to improve local medical services.