Namibia is facing challenges in the supply of medicine and clinical supplies for public health facilities.
Therefore, the Ministry of Health and Social Services continues to address these challenges by introducing various measures, such as direct procurement through market scans for suppliers.
This was shared by Health Minister Dr. Kalumbi Shangula during a health update at the Government Information Centre in Windhoek.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services will save millions with the establishment of dialysis centres across the county.
Health Minister Dr. Kalumbi Shangula said this during a health update at the Government Information Centre in Windhoek.
Namibians from across the country are required to travel long distances to the capital to access dialysis services. In addition, the government spends millions of dollars to refer state patients to private dialysis centres.
Health and Social Services Minister, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, says Namibia is making steady progress in the expansion of health care services to far-flung rural areas.
Dr. Shangula is currently assessing outreach and visibility programmes aimed at increasing access to quality health care for vulnerable people in the Kunene Region.
Ensuring access to quality primary health care services is critical to strengthening the public health system.
Namibia has achieved a TB treatment success rate of 87%, 3% short of its 90% target.
Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, revealed this at the World TB Day held at Luderitz in the Kharas Region.
With the eleventh highest TB incidence in the world, the World Health Organisation (WHO) listed Namibia as a highly TB-burdened country.
The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, says service delivery in the Kavango East health directorate is set to improve with the allocation of more than N$217 million from the national budget.
Dr. Shangula, who was speaking at the World Health Day celebrations in Rundu on Monday, says the Ministry of Health is undertaking various capital projects countrywide, and significant changes are expected to take place in Kavango East.
These include ICU and dialysis-related services.
Despite the relatively low number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the country, Namibia ranks 11th globally in terms of TB incidence and per capita expenditure on TB treatment.
The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, emphasised that the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB poses a significant health challenge for the country.
Dr. Shangula made these remarks during the discussion of the Appropriation Bill at the committee stage.
SADC ministers of health convened today in an extraordinary virtual council meeting to discuss coordinated efforts to prevent and control the spread of cholera across the region.
So far, five member states, including Zambia and Zimbabwe, have recorded cholera cases, which have led to hundreds of deaths.
The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, joined health ministers from 11 SADC member states in a meeting aimed at regional efforts to tackle the cholera outbreak in the region.
The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, has dismissed allegations that Namibia has signed the WHO Pandemic Treaty, which is yet to be adopted since negotiations are ongoing.
Dr. Shangula was responding to allegations by the president of the Republican Party that by signing the treaty, Namibia would lose its sovereignty and be subservient to the World Health Organisation's whims.
Dr. Shangula further explained that he did give a statement in the National Assembly and that the matter is not being discussed in secrecy.
Health and Social Services Minister, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, says the implementation of the Public Procurement Act has significantly impacted the availability of medicines and clinical supplies.
In a ministerial statement on the procurement process for pharmaceutical and clinical supplies in the public health sector, Dr. Shangula made a pointed reference to a multimillion-dollar tender for the supply of condoms, surgical gloves, and other items, which caused a public outcry, causing the tender to be cancelled earlier this year.
President Hage Geingob says the newly renovated Emergency Unit at Katutura Intermediate Hospital is just one example of infrastructure to boost the overall healthcare system and effectively deal with emergency medical situations.
Dr. Geingob inaugurated the facility, refurbished at a cost of more than N$3 million.
The Emergency Unit, previously known as the Casualty Unit, is the biggest emergency unit in the country.
