The Ministry of Health has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) of partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) Namibia Office under Emergency preparedness and Response Flagship Initiative.  As part of the MOA, WHO handed over digital Learning equipment and a fleet of 8 (4x4) multipurpose field vehicles including a well-equipped ambulance to cater for rapid response in emergency operations.

Delivering his remarks at the MoA signing ceremony, Namibian Health and Social Services Minister, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula described the Memorandum of Agreement as representing an important step forward in ‘our shared commitment to ensure that Namibia is ready to prevent, timely detect, and promptly respond to public health emergencies that may occur in our country. The initiatives will further strengthen the global architecture of preparedness and response to health emergencies and support the national efforts to prepare for Pandemics’.

Speaking at the same occasion, WHO Representative to Namibia, Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses pledged USD 2.8 million (NAD 51.1 million) to take the initiative forward. ‘It is important to protect health, by strengthening the global and local architecture for health emergency preparedness and response’.

Dr Sagoe-Moses added that the ‘Flagship Initiative is a catalyst to enhance the existing emergency preparedness and response activities (e.g National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS), at country level; guide where gaps are; and ensures well-tailored and integrated emergency and response systems, supported by appropriate human, asset and financial resources’.

The terms of this MoA are in line with the three flagship initiatives launched by the WHO Regional Office for Africa in early 2022, which aim to improve the capacity of Member States to prepare, detect and respond to health emergencies. The three flagship initiatives are: PROSE (Promoting Resilience of Systems for Emergencies), TASS (Transforming African Surveillance Systems) and SURGE (Strengthening and Utilizing Response Groups for Emergencies).

As a result of these efforts, the Ministry of Health and Social Services with support from WHO has already made significant progress. A scoping mission conducted by WHO/AFRO in September 2022 produced a situation analysis and roadmap.

In addition, the first of four training modules and a special Emergency Medical teams (EMT) training was completed for the integration of more than 50 Namibian emergency responders, building their skills and capacity to respond to local and regional public health emergencies within 24-48 hours.  Some of the EMT-trained health workers from Namibia supported Rwanda and Tanzania as EMT trainers during the African regional capacity building exercise. Moreover, the Namibian EMT team members recently supported in the Malawi cholera outbreak response.