Namibia News

The World Health Organization in Namibia engaged stakeholders from the public and private health care to deliberate on key milestones within the health sector and to share the Organization’s strategic direction for the next five years.  This is in lieu of the Organization’s approving a new Global Programmme of Work which sets the tone for the global public health agenda consequently the local office strategy for the country.  

The Ministry of Health and Social Services launched the revised National Guidelines on Antiretroviral therapy and the HIV care and treatment package for children and adolescents as the country transition to highly effective medicine for treating persons living with HIV.  The revised guidelines include Dolutegravir (DTG) - a relatively new medicine used to treat HIV infection.

Trachoma, an infectious eye disease caused by bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. It is the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. It is a public health problem in 44 countries, and is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of about 1.9 million people. About 142 million people live in trachoma endemic areas and are at risk of trachoma blindness. The infection is transmitted by direct or indirect transfer of eye and nose discharges of infected people, particularly young children who are the principal reservoir of infection. The disease is also spread by flies.

Country Context
Namibia is situated in the south-western part of Africa bordered by Angola in the north, Zambia and Zimbabwe in the northeast, Botswana to the east, South Africa in the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.  It is the thirty-fourth largest country in the world occupying an area of 824,292 km2 and the least densely populated country second to Mongolia.  Ninety two percent of the land area is defined as hyper-arid, arid or semi-arid. The county is also characterized by a high income inequality with a Gini coefficient of 0.572.

WHO is in the process of supporting the Namibian government strengthen its capacity for assessing and analyzing health risks and to integrate the results in its emergency preparedness and response plans.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in Namibia in collaboration with the Windhoek City Runners Club (WCRC) hosted the first ‘Walk/Run for Health’ event on Saturday, 27 April at Daan Viljoen police checkpoint. The event was held to celebrate World Health Day, which took place earlier this month, as well as the 71^st Anniversary of  WHO.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services with support from WHO and UNFPA adapted the Clinical Handbook for women subjected to intimate partner violence and/or sexual violence.  The handbook will serve as a stepping stone for transforming the health sector to provide a comprehensive response to survivors of gender based violence.   The adaptation process involved consultation with health care providers, social workers, police officers and civil society organizations. 

Namibia joined the rest of the world in commemorating the World Health Day under the theme ‘universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere’. The protracted Hepatitis E outbreak was the central theme in the speakers’ messages reiterating the urgency to provide water and sanitation services to the urban poor especially those living in informal settlements.

Global leaders met in September last year to set a roadmap for accelerated action to end TB in line with the sustainable development goals.  This year’s World TB Day theme ‘It’s time’ – puts the accent on the urgency to act on the commitments made by global leaders to:  scale up access to prevention and treatment; build accountability; ensure sufficient and sustainable financing including for research; promote an end to stigma and discrimination, and promote an equitable, rights-based and people-centered TB response.  Despite being declared a major p

The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) is currently implementing the WHO/AFRO II larviciding demonstration project in six districts in Omusati, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Kavango East and West regions where malaria is transmitted.  The project aims to strengthen national capacity for implementing diversified mosquito control measures to contribute towards malaria elimination.