Turberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health challenges the mining sector in the southern African region faces, Ministry of Health and Social Services executive director Ben Nangombe has said.
“Its impact is felt not only by the affected individuals and their families, but also by the broader community. One group at exceptionally high risk of contracting TB is mineworkers due to their exposure to silica dust, as well as confined and poorly-ventilated working conditions in the mines.
“This creates a high-risk environment for contracting TB, whose incidence among mine workers is estimated to be 10 times higher than in the general population. Hence, the prioritisation of TB services in the mining communities is of paramount importance,” he said.
He made these remarks during the signing of the Mine Health and Safety Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which focuses on identifying prevalent diseases in the mining sector.
Tuberculosis continues being a burden in Namibia, especially among people living with HIV. Nangombe noted that in 2023, Namibia with a TB incidence rate of 460 per 100 000 population, was ranked by the World Health Organisation as the 11th highest in relation to its TB incidence rate in the world.
The SOPs are aimed at guiding Namibia in prioritising the prevention, effective screening and treatment of TB among mineworkers.
“These documents are not simply procedural manuals; they embody a commitment from all stakeholders to stop TB and other diseases in their tracks, and to eliminate them. They are the culmination of extensive stakeholder consultants, meetings and workshops to refine and adopt them to local context, thereby facilitating effective implementation.
In the broader sense, the SOPs symbolise and demonstrate the unity of purpose among all stakeholders: Offices, Ministries and Agencies, civil society, the private sector and our valued partners like the Chamber of Mines,” Nangombe said.
The agreement was jointly signed by the executive directors of various ministries, including the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment-Creation.
-Nampa