Namibia News

An outbreak of Hepatitis E (HEV) in Windhoek was declared by the Ministry of Health and Social Services on 14 December 2017.  As of 5 January 2018, the Ministry recorded cumulative 214 cases.  Over 39% of the cases are from the Havana informal settlement and 19% from Goreagab Dam area.  Two meetings were held with community leaders from the affected communities on 31 December 2017 and on 6 January 2018.  The meetings were facilitated by Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) and WHO to discuss the outbreak in the community and agree on key action points to halt the active transmissi

A team of experts from the World Health Organization visited Namibia  in August 2017 to assist in the development of a National Action Plan on Health Security.  This was a follow-up to a Joint External Evaluation which was undertaken by a team of 11 experts held in December 2016. The December Evaluation was to determine Namibia’s readiness to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to public health threats, whether they are naturally occurring, deliberate, or accidental.

November 2017

Namibia was the first African nation to ban the routine use of antibiotics in its beef industry, when it passed a law 26 years ago. The thriving industry is proof that large-scale meat production can succeed without squandering one of the most precious resources of modern medicine.

 Today the national taskforce for poliovirus containment in the laboratory met as part of the country’s efforts to maintain its polio free status.  The committee members discussed findings from a field mission reviewing all biomedical laboratories for possible wild poliovirus infectious material while encouraging the destruction of all unneeded materials.  The Ministry aims to strengthen its surveillance system by developing an inventory of all laboratories that retain material which may have potential infectious material.

‘I was slow and sleepy most of the time and this affected my effectiveness at work. It  led to me being demoted at work.  Although I received the same salary, I was frustrated knowing that I could do much more than what was I assigned to me.”  This was part of Mr. Amakali’s testimony has he shared his journey of living with bipolar at a public lecture as part of the World Mental Health Day. He was diagnosed with bipolar since 1998 after his graduation from High School. After spending a year in the Mental Health Unit, Mr. Amakali was fortunate to work at a local bank.

The Honorable Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Juliet Kavetuna on 05 October 2017 launched the Namibia 2014-2015 Health Accounts Report.  This report presents the findings of Namibia’s Health Accounts exercise for the 2014/15 fiscal year, which is Namibia’s fifth round of Health Accounts and is the second round conducted using the System of Health Accounts (SHA) 2011 methodology. The report is the result of well-planned and organized multidisciplinary efforts of the different players including WHO.

The increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is evident in most developing countries and Namibia is no exception. Cancer is one of the four major NCDs with cervical, breast, and prostate cancer being amongst the top 5.  

Although data on the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) burden in the general population of Namibia in not year available, in Southern Africa, about 3.2% of women in the general population are estimated to harbour cervical HPV-16/18 infection at a given time.   61.8% of invasive cervical cancers are attributed to HPVs 16 or 18.  

Partners in Namibia meet to adapt WHO Global Medical Eligibility Wheel (MET) for contraceptive use into national guidelines.  The promotion of family planning and ensuring access to preferred contraceptive methods for women and couples is essential to securing the well-being and autonomy of women, while supporting the health and development of communities.

Expectant mothers in the Kunene region will soon be able to have better access to safe delivery services. The Opuwo Town Council signed a contract with Hauseb Construction JV Ya Kandundu Investments on 28 September 2017 for the construction of the Maternity Waiting Home.  The contract signing was followed by the handing over of the site to the contractor for works to commence and the much awaited Maternity Waiting Home will be completed in February 2018.