The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is proud to partner with  the Botswana Ministry of Health, the University of Botswana and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). Together, we seek to provide high-quality pediatric clinical care, educate the next generation of healthcare workers, and conduct research that both generates new knowledge and informs evidence-based practice to help transform Botswana’s and possibly also global health systems. 

In 2001, then-President of Botswana Festus Mogae appealed before the United Nations for help to address a national health crisis: an HIV/AIDS epidemic that affected over 10 percent of Botswana’s population. Among the organizations responding to the call were the Gates Foundation, the United States government through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). UPenn’s response to that request from President Mogae led to the creation of the Botswana UPenn Partnership (BUP). Led by the Botswana Government, key partners including UPenn worked together to create a comprehensive HIV care program in Botswana. 

Over the past 25 years BUP has grown significantly, and now includes a multinational, multiskilled team including over 60 colleagues based in Botswana along with others living in Philadelphia and elsewhere. BUP shares Penn’s world-class expertise with our partners in Botswana to build capacity and excellence in clinical care, education, research, and advocacy. 

• Clinical: At Princess Marina Hospital (PMH) and other clinical sites around Botswana’s capital, Gaborone and beyond, the BUP team works in specialty areas including pediatrics, adolescent medicine, internal medicine, dermatology, oncology, radiology and OB-GYN to provide high-quality care for patients.  The clinicians are accustomed to seeing complicated, critically ill, co-morbid, and multi-drug-resistant cases. At times, the team uses technology to bring the expertise of radiology, dermatology, pathology, and other specialists outside of Botswana to enhance patient care. Through CHOP’s Global Health resident rotations, the GH Nursing fellowship, the Pincus GH Fellowship, and other bidirectional educational opportunities, CHOP clinicians will often work alongside Botswana’s clinical experts to deliver care.
• Education: The key partner in this collaboration is the University of Botswana (UB), the country’s largest university. Our program is dedicated to supporting the training of the next generation of medical professionals. CHOP and UPenn supported UB in various ways when in 2009 UB opened the country’s first medical school and in 2010 the first pediatric residency program. We remain deeply committed to supporting the training of Batswana medical students, pediatric residents, fellows, junior pediatric faculty, and other health care workers and trainees. Each year a number of CHOP faculty from various disciplines teach learners in Botswana. Residents from CHOP also have the opportunity to complete a month-long rotation in Botswana, with 5-10 residents participating each year. To learn more about this program, click here. 
• Research: This generates rigorously collected scientific evidence to inform clinical care, health systems, public health and medical education in Botswana. Projects are funded by a variety of sources, including the NIH, CDC/PEPFAR, Foundations, CHOP, UB, and UPenn (Penn Center for AIDS Research, Perelman School of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania). Research projects have informed national, regional, and international guidelines and have produced more than 350 peer-reviewed scientific articles authored by Batswana and Penn/CHOP investigators to date. 
• Some pediatric-specific projects include work focused on adolescent mental health, antibiotic stewardship, contraception, HIV, TB, drug-resistant bacteria, diabetes care, and health systems strengthening.  
• CHOP Global Health Research Publications are highlighted on the Global Health Research Affinity Group page. 
• Advocacy: In keeping with the original commitments that emphasized collaboration in building systems, BUP and CHOP faculty are deeply engaged in responding to calls for partnership. This includes working closely with community outreach initiatives and translating data into action in collaboration with organizations such as the Botswana Ministry of Health and other international health organizations operating in Botswana. 

Learn more about our partner organizations: 

• Botswana-UPenn Partnership 
• University of Botswana 
• Penn Center for Global Health 
• Penn Center for AIDS Research 
• PEPFAR 
• National Institutes of Health