The First Lady, Ms. Neo Jane Masisi and the Minister of Health, Dr. Edwin Dikoloti honoured the graduation of 32 newly accredited Internationally Certified Addiction Professionals (ICAP 1); a cohort trained in 2022 by Botswana Association of Addiction Professionals (BAAP) for Ministry of Health and Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development participants. The Addiction Professionals sat for the Universal Treatment Curriculum (UTC) credentialing exam in February this year with most of them successfully attaining the ICAP 1 qualification.
The First Lady urged the graduates to share their acquired skill and knowledge with their colleagues, she highlighted that given the rise of substance use in the country there is a great need for more of Addiction Professionals to trained in order to enhance community based services.
Dr Edwin Dikoloti stated that the Ministry of Health expects a lot from the Addiction Professionals and is eager to collaborate with them to tackle the health challenges from Substance Use Disorders, especially among the youth. The World Health Organisation representative in Botswana Dr Joseph Namboze reported that alcohol contributes to 3 million deaths annually and is responsible for 5% of global health diseases.
On behalf of the Chairperson of Botswana Association of Addiction Professionals Mr Sidney Mangwegape said that the training will ensure consistent level of basic knowledge and skills in the delivery of interventions in drug demand reduction, which are of International standards. By professionalising the addiction field we will be encouraging the use of evidence based practices that have been researched on and have been found to be most effective
Representing the graduates Mr Thapologang Qhau, assured the First Lady and the Minister of Health that they are the right professionals for the job as they have been fully equipped to deal with Substance Use Disorders and their related issues. He vowed that they will be committed to serving the nation to their best abilities as they have been entrusted with the UTC training.
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