The Ministry of Health and Social Services has announced that more than one million ordinary health passports were at the general stores in Windhoek by the end of July and that health facilities should submit their orders.

Health Executive Director, Ben Nangombe said the ministry is also procuring additional health passports.

Nangombe’s announcement follows claims by the Popular Democratic Movement Elders’ Council on Tuesday that health matters in Namibia have become impractical as citizens are now being referred to local shops to buy books to replace their old health passports when they are full.

Meundju Jahanika, the wing’s acting secretary general in a statement said that for the past three years, there has also been a shortage of medicine mostly in the rural areas of Otjinene and other parts of the country, a situation he said is concerning.

He said elderly people face major problems because they travel from areas outside town to get treatment.

“When it is their time to be attended to, they are being told to go to some private pharmacy to buy medicine. Therefore, it does not work most of the time. They need to pay for expensive medicine. The issue of the shortage of medicine is due to a mismanagement of funds and delivery of medicine. The elders are being affected financially as they must now travel long distances from their areas to clinics and back to their villages,” Jahanika said.

He called on the government to allocate funds for the health ministry to “marshal back the old health system” and to build big storerooms for stock keeping.

Source: NAMPA