Capacity of public health facilities is stretched

WINDHOEK – The burden of disease in Namibia is such that despite the commendable investments by the government, the capacity of public health facilities is stretched, which leads to challenges in the quality of care that citizens receive. 

This is according to the recently launched 2018 study report titled “Towards maximizing the demographic dividend in Namibia”, which states that these challenges are more pressing in remote rural areas. 

The main health infrastructure and health systems challenges that continually plague the health sector include the need for continued public funding to secure universal health coverage, training, deployment and retaining of adequate health workers and ensuring adequate and appropriate services to all Namibians, according to the report. 

The report which was this month launched by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) further states that access to health services is hampered by sparsely populated areas outside urban areas. 

“Namibia has adequate health care providers and has surpassed the World Health Organisation benchmark of 2.5 providers per 1000 population, with a doctor for every 2 952 people and a registered nurse for every 704 people,” according to information from the report. 

However, there is a skewed distribution between rural and urban in favour of the latter and between the public and private sectors.