Potential for the specialty of Family Medicine in Botswana: A discussion paper

Family Medicine is developing rapidly as a medical and academic specialty in sub-Saharan Africa. The multifactorial policy drivers are not well described, but include population health needs, the World Health Organisation’s initiative1 to re-energise primary care in their 2008 report, failure of hospital services and even vertical programmes to cope with the continuing HIV epidemic in many sub-Saharan countries in Africa, and a growing middle class which expects more and better quality from primary care.2,3 These are but a few reasons why Primary Health Care and Family Medicine are enjoying a resurgence of interest, investment and recruitment.