The Erongo Region has received the award for the best performance in the country regarding public pharmaceutical services, while Onandjokwe Intermediate Hospital has been acknowledged as the best pharmacy in the country.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) presented awards to top-performing regions and hospitals at the Annual National Pharmaceutical Service Forum.

The five-day forum, held in Walvis Bay, serves as a platform for discussing various aspects related to pharmaceutical services in Namibia.

The US government has handed over 14 metric tonnes of ready-to-use therapeutic food to the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

The donation comes against the backdrop of a report on integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which suggests that one in five Namibians goes to bed on a regular basis on a hungry stomach.

Concerns are being raised about the unhygienic state of the Opuwo State Hospital.

Community members say the hospital has become a haven for stray cats and rats, to the point where they invade patients' rooms to prey on their food.

Concerned community member Tjitopi Tjiurua says uncollected garbage, besides causing a health hazard, attracts stray animals.

The Executive Director of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Ben Nangombe, urged nurses to carry out their work with love, diligence, and care.

Ben Nangombe made the appeal during an early International Nurses Day celebration in the capital. 

Nangombe says the day provides an opportunity for nurses to reflect on how to positively impact and better serve the nation.

He says that back in the day, nurses were regarded as angels and must therefore avoid compromising this notion when it comes to providing health care services.

Otjozondjupa Regional Governor, James Uerikua, has reiterated a call for a referral hospital at Otjiwarongo because of the many accidents happening on the B1 road.

Uerikua was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ombili Clinic at Otjiwarongo.

Otjiwarongo has a population of 220,000 inhabitants, of which 62,000 depend on health services from the Otjiwarongo State Hospital.

The challenge of skill-mix imbalance remains a concern for the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS).

Minister Kalumbi Shangula pointed out that this shortage of health professionals in the labour market is the cause of the imbalance.

The shortage is in the areas of optometrists, cardiologists, dieticians, speech therapists, sonographers, prostheticians, and psychologists, among others.

Minister Shangula also highlighted the issue of a lack of funding to train and study in those fields.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services' Executive Director, Ben Nangombe, urged the public not to panic because of the high number of COVID-19 cases reported in Rehoboth.

He says the ministry is taking the necessary measures to isolate the positive cases and their contacts to prevent the spread of the virus.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services earlier announced 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Rehoboth in the Hardap Region last week, the majority stemming from Dr. Lemmer High School and one from St. Joseph's Primary School.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) faced questions about the availability of cancer treatment equipment in the country following the death of Dr. Hage Geingob, who had to seek treatment in this regard in the United States of America.

During a recent parliamentary session, the leader of the Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF), Epafras Mukwiilongo, raised concerns and asked the Ministry of Health about plans to acquire modern cancer treatment machines.

Heavy storms in the Kavango West Region on Wednesday left the Tondoro Health Centre flooded.

The stormwater left the waiting, reception, pharmacy storage areas, and delivery room underwater.

According to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the water originated from a water pool that had formed along the nearby gravel road due to inadequate stormwater drainage.

The Ministry says no major damage to medical equipment or clinical supplies occurred.

Healthcare service at the Okahao District Hospital is expected to improve with the arrival of medical equipment from the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS).

The equipment is valued at N$6 million: an electrical auto switch generator, an oxygen plant, X-ray machines, dental equipment, and laundry equipment.

The oxygen plant will now allow the hospital to produce its own oxygen by January 2024.

An x-ray, the only one of its kind in the region, will help patients from across the region and beyond.