Category: Health Care

The University of Namibia’s psychology and social work department in partnership with the Regain Trust on Friday commemorated World Mental Health Day under the theme ‘Leaving no one behind.”

Speaking during the event, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative Gift Malunga urged Namibians to dismantle the walls of silence and stigma around mental health and instead build bridges of empathy and support.

Malunga said status of health refers to the overall state of well-being condition of an individual or a group of people, including its physical, mental, and social aspects.

She said mental health is closely tied to sustainable development goals, particularly Goal 3 on good health and well-being and Goal 5 on gender equality.

“Mental health is often overlooked and stigmatised, impacting not only individuals but also families, communities, and society at large. By gathering here today, we send a powerful message that mental health deserves our utmost attention. Nearly one billion people live with mental health conditions, yet it remains one of the most neglected aspects of healthcare. You are defined by your strength and humanity, not your conditions, and we stand in solidarity with you,” Malunga said.

Mulunga said the event was special because it unites a diverse group, including forensic and general psychiatric patients, professional, and students who represent the future of mental health care.

“To the social work students, you are the future of mental health care. Your dedication inspires us, and your role in providing support and compassion will shape a brighter future for those facing mental health challenges,” she added.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

The Medical Superintendent at Katutura State Hospital, Dr Nelago Amagulu, revealed on Monday that the hospital’s newly built 16-bed Kidney Dialysis Unit is expected to start operating in November.

Amagulu told visiting members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Gender Equality, Social Development and Family Affairs that every room at the unit was constructed with an oxygen point, ventilation systems and Wi-Fi access. The unit, she said, was initially designed to cater for COVID-19 patients during the pandemic. It currently has four dialysis machines and 12 more have been ordered.

“The infrastructure is in place, the equipment has arrived in the country. It is just installation and testing that have to be done. We are hoping that activity can be done in October so that if everything is done and we are clear, hopefully we will kick off in November. If there are technical challenges, it might be later,” Amagulu added.

The committee was spearheaded by its chairperson, Swapo member Gotthard Kasuto. Landless People’s Movement parliamentarian Henry Seibeb and Popular Democratic Movement parliamentarian Winnie Moongo formed part of the familiarisation visit to the hospital.

Amagulu noted that the 96-bed unit formed part of the COVID-19 isolation unit.

“From now on it is going to be the dialysis unit. With the renovations we are doing, we put patients in the other two blocks for now while we renovate the floor. Once that floor is done, the patients will go back and the next floor’s patients come here and we renovate that floor. We will continue to do that until all the floors are done,” she said.

She stressed that there is a need for the approval of the unit’s proposed structure.

“This is so that we are not depleting staff from an already staff-challenged hospital. We have not filled our staff complement for the main hospital and that is a budgetary issue,” Amagulu said.

Meanwhile, the members of parliament expressed their gratitude to the staff at the Katutura hospital for the cleanliness of the maternity ward.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Registered Community Health Promoters (CHP) in Nyamira County will start receiving stipends for their service of providing primary health care in a bid to achieve universal health coverage.

Primary healthcare stakeholders are happy with the decision, terming it long overdue because primary health promoters play a key role in ensuring that the most vulnerable households get basic healthcare advice.

The healthcare advice offered includes access to medication and medical facilities. The CHP also offers first aid services to patients when the need arises, before referring them to health facilities.

Dr. Geofrey Nyambuti, Director of Medical Services, confirmed to stakeholders that they have embarked on a vigorous training exercise for community health promoters in the entire county so that they can be able to provide universal comprehensive healthcare to achieve the government’s agenda of Afya Bora Mashinani.

‘Our county has already received kits for all our registered community health promoters to enable them to execute their duties with ease once the programme is officially launched by the President on the 20th of October next month.’ Director Nyambuti assured.

‘This initiative is geared towards adopting supportive and innovative modern approaches in disease identification, monitoring, surveillance, early warning, and research and information dissemination for efficient service delivery to clients seeking health care services.

Mr. David Soi, a Public Health Officer (PHO) from Bomet County, while training Nyamira County stakeholders in primary health care, emphasised that primary healthcare is an essential service, which is why the government has decided to set aside resources so that those who provide the primary health care services get a stipend to motivate them in their selfless service to humanity.

‘The approach the health promoters will use in executing their duties is promoting disease prevention mechanisms, offering integrated and comprehensive service, and ensuring the service is people-centred, serving all clients equally and efficiently. This approach will boost demand for health care services and improve awareness to create a positive attitude towards health care-seeking behaviours.

Ms. Celestine Gambo, a cluster lead in AMREF, elaborated that the government has put in place legislation at various levels of execution to avoid clashing and overlapping service provision, and a bill to fund primary healthcare has already been drafted to enhance service provision and strengthen coordination during implementation.

‘The key role of county stakeholders in primary healthcare is to coordinate, support, warrant equitable resource mobilisation and distribution, monitor how care and service are prioritised, and ensure impartial distribution of healthcare workers, as per the level of care within the county,’ Ms. Gambo listed.

Dr. Nyambuti urged the stakeholders to drum up support and ownership of health and encourage seamless coordination between community health promoters and their clients to ensure healthcare service delivery in the county is efficient.

Healthcare is one of the president’s five pillars of his Bottom-up Economic Transformative Agenda (BETA) that he is using to build this country’s economy to higher levels. The other four are affordable housing, agriculture, micro, small, and medium enterprises, digital superhighways, and creative industries.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Nana Kwabena Duku I, Nkosuohene of Nyame Bekyere, and Nana Kofi Amoa Asuo I, Nkosuohene of Nana Asuo Gyebi shrine in Larteh, have provided medical equipment to some healthcare facilities in the Eastern Region. The recipient institutions were the Ghana Ambulance Service in the New Juaben North District, the Tinkong Health Centre in the Akuapim North District, and the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua. The devices included the gastrotomy feeding tube, intubating stylet, tuberculin syringe, adult and paediatric resuscitator, steri-drape, exam gloves, anaesthesia face mask, surgical gloves, BD syringe, argyle bubble connector, lumbar puncture set, and suction coagulator. Nana Duku I, also known as Diallo Sumbry, donating the devices at Nyame Bekyere in the New Juaben North District, noted the significant impact of the devices on medical procedures, adding that they would help to advance healthcare delivery, ensuring the provision of high-quality medical services to patients in need. He explained the indispensable role of medical equipment in healthcare delivery, and stated that the tools were essential in preventing, diagnosing, treating, and facilitating effective rehabilitation of ailments. He called upon the public to generously contribute their time and resources to support public facilities to improve their capacities in service delivery. Mr Enoch Adjei Amoah, speaking on behalf of the Eastern Regional Hospital’s Emergency Unit, expressed gratitude towards the donors for their contribution of medical equipment. He emphasised that the provision of appropriate medical devices enabled efficient treatment of patients and facilitated faster recovery. He gave the assurance that the Hospital would utilise the equipment in a proper and safe manner. Nana Ama Sakyibea I, Mmabaawa Hemaa of Nyame Bekyere, expressed deep appreciation for the generous act of kindness. ‘Though we benefit from the services of the Eastern Regional Hospital and Tinkong Health Centre we will be pleased to have a health centre here at Nyame Bekyere,’ she added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A project aimed at preventing communicable diseases before they occur in Ethiopia has been launched today.

The project dubbed ‘Epi Gen Ethiopia’ will be implemented in Ethiopia over the coming five years with a cost of 4 million euros obtained from the European Union (EU).

Ethiopian Public Health Institute Deputy General Director, Getachew Tolera said the project is expected to help strengthen research capabilities of the country in addition to preventing communicable diseases.

The establishment of international standard laboratories and training of more than 15 professionals with PHD are parts of the project, he added.

Noting that the country used to send samples abroad to test new cases of diseases, the deputy director said the project is also very important for it will enable Ethiopia to conduct such laboratory tests inside the country.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Despite awaiting pre-internship medical board examination, newly graduated medical students from the Medical Science of Havana in Cuba said they are ready to take up the Hippocratic Oath and serve in Namibia’s public health sector.

More than 170 young Namibians graduated on 31 July 2023 as part of the academic services cooperation agreement between the governments of Namibia and Cuba.

According to the Health Professions Council of Namibia (HPCN) the graduates are expected to write the medical board examination in October 2023 on a date yet to be confirmed, before they are deployed to health facilities across the country. In order to do internships the foreign-trained graduates have to pass the written and oral examinations that are mandatory and statutory since introduction in 2016.

Speaking to Nampa upon arrival on Sunday at the Hosea Kutako International Airport where family members and friends in excitement welcomed a group of 22 graduates, Dr Amos Siteketa expressed readiness to take up the medical career to contribute to the quality of the health system.

“It is an amazing feeling and opportunity as not everyone gets it. We are here now, we came ready to help the Namibian health system, almost every other day we read in the newspapers there is a medical staff shortage and we are more than ready… If they give us the mandate even tomorrow to go to the hospitals to make things better, we are ready,” he said.

Another graduate, Dr Immanuel Kandjiimi, said it’s an honour to be back home after seven years in Cuba and he is excited to render health services to the public, noting that quality health equals high performance of citizens.

“I am looking forward to writing my board examinations and looking forward to serving fellow Namibians, that is my priority, to serve in any way I can,” he said.

A parent, Paulus Hauwanga, showered gratitude on the government, noting that during the studies there were various challenges endured by the students, however, the government continued with its unwavering support up until the students completed their studies.

Recently, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) said 85 per cent of Namibians depend on the public healthcare system, therefore with the recent graduates comes another achievement meant to improve the country’s public health sector.

According to the HPCN registry issued earlier to Nampa, the country has a total of 1 243 registered medical practitioners.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency