Local high end safari operator Chobe Holdings recently supported the Ministry of Health’s Oral Polio Vaccination drive by providing air access to remote communities within the Okavango.
The support offered by the Group’s air charter subsidiary, Safari Air allowed the health authorities in the region to access the remote Xaxaba Village which is not reachable by road through the provision of donated air transport services.
The health ministry campaign is targeting all children aged 7 years and below and ran from the 23rd to 26th February 2023 in all districts across the country while the second round of the campaign is expected to take place from the 30th March 2023 to 2nd April 2023.
“This is a public health response to the circulating Vaccine Derived Poliovirus Type 2 (cVOPV2) that was detected in the country through environmental surveillance,as has been previously reported . The vaccination campaign will help pirevent the spread of this virus to vulnerable children since unvaccinated children are at high risk of polio infection”, reads part of a statement issued by the health ministry in mid-February 2023.
In response, Chobe Holdings said in line with its business principles, it will offer a helping hand to the health ministry.
Lempeditse Odumetse, Group Managing Director of Chobe, in a statement said “Botho, is a philosophy that promotes the common good of society and includes humanness as an essential element of the human condition. This is a core and fundamental value of our organization and guides us to providing a greater good for the community at large. These children are the future of this country and we want them to have access to appropriate medical services. Assisting Government and its Ministries, when asked, is not new to us and we will continue to assist where and when possible.” Chobe Holdings owns and operates twelve eco-tourism lodges and camps on leased land in northern Botswana and the Caprivi Strip in Namibia with a combined capacity of 317 beds under the brands of Desert and Delta Safaris, Chobe Game Lodge and Ker and Downey Botswana.
