Namibia News

The Ministry of Health and Social Services with support from WHO  conducted a five-day tobacco training workshop to strengthen tobacco control measures in the country.   

The workshop that started on 11 September 2023 at Rundu in the Kavango East region also aimed at strengthening participants’ knowledge, skills and competencies through stakeholder engagement. 

The participants included environmental health practitioners from the Ministry of Health and Social Services and town councils, social workers, and  law enforcement agencies. 

Namibia received an onboarding training on the Epidemic Intelligence for Open Sources (EIOS) community to ensure that health threats are identified and responded to early and rapidly with no impact on lives and livelihoods. The training is being rollout by the WHO Regional Office for Africa to all its 47 member states with the aim of building a community of well-trained public health intelligence professionals.  

The Ministry of Health and Social Services in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) recently gathered for an After-Action Review (AAR) meeting in response to the recently ended Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic (CCHF) outbreak.   Various stakeholders gathered in Windhoek for a three-day meeting from 1-3 August 2023, to document activities that were carried out during the recently ended CCHF outbreak. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says a strategic solution to the equal distribution of vaccines is for developing nations to have their own capacity to produce vaccines. “It is really important to build our own capacity in systems, processes and institutions,” Dr Tedros said during a high-level meeting with Namibia’s Head of State, His Excellency Dr Hage Geingob, on 30 August 2023.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has commended Namibia for its commitment to Universal Health Coverage. “I would like to thank you for your commitment to Universal Health Coverage for all Namibians,” said Dr Tedros during a meeting with Namibia’s President Dr. Hage Geingob.  Dr. Tedros noted that in a country like Namibia where the population density is low, and the settlements are sparsely populated, providing services is a challenge.

This week Namibia is hosting a team from the Regional Validation Committee to assess Namibia’s submission for Path to Elimination of Mother to child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B. 

When Maria Amateta gave birth to her first baby at 29 years, she lacked the experience and commitment to breastfeed her newborn exclusively for six months. 

In fact, Amateta was so occupied with pursuing a nursing qualification that most of her time was spent away from her daughter. 

Six years later, with the birth of her second child, a boy, Amateta decided that she would dedicate more time to breastfeeding - not because she had more time to her hands but because she better understands the benefits of breastfeeding.  

At the entrance of the Katima Mulilo State Hospital is a large tent. There, a 30-year-old Josephine Poniso gracefully interacts with an older male patient seeking medical attention. 

She encourages the patient to wear a mask and then explains that he would need to be screened for symptoms of Covid-19 before proceeding to the hospital. 

Poniso is a Senior Community Health Worker for the Community Based Response Initiative (CBRI), a project funded by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

Health research is an essential tool for improving health and health equity. It provides evidence-based policy and decision-making and has the potential to deliver widespread population health changes that respond to critical needs and contribute to sustainable development outcomes in the world's poorest countries.

WHO Namibia in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) Namibia organized a two-day stakeholder workshop to validate the National Health Policy Framework (NHPF) developed with support of  WHO.