In a boost to Namibia's public healthcare sector, seven specialised medical professionals from Cuba have arrived to begin their service at Windhoek Central and Katutura Intermediate hospitals in the capital.

These specialists will be helping in different areas of surgical procedures and other health-related matters.  
Four will be based at Windhoek Central Hospital and three at Katutura Hospital. 

Speaking to NBC News, Superintendent of the Windhoek Central Hospital, Dr Shitaleni Herman, says the Windhoek Central Hospital remains one of the oldest and biggest in the country when it comes to referral cases.

"We have specialists, as you have seen already, in different areas, including those that are not here: paediatric cardiology, paediatric surgeons, neurosurgeons and many other disciplines. It's a very big hospital. We have almost close to a thousand beds; we have mental units that we are running just much further from here, and maternity, which is just very close here, is quite a complex of services within the hospital itself."

Dr Herman said the hospital runs 8 theatres, plus 2 theatres currently being renovated; in addition to that, the day theatre is also being given a facelift. 
Herman further highlighted the reason these theatres are needed is to increase surgical capacity and to accommodate patients who are currently on the waiting list.

"We are running 5 ICUs: paediatric ICU, cardiac ICU, medical ICU, surgery and trauma ICU and neonatology. So it's quite a very busy setup. It's quite a very heavy setup in a sense that all the regions refer patients to these hospitals through our intermediate hospitals and mostly from our district levels."