In order to fast-track accessibility to healthcare for all Namibians and to curb the inequality between the private and public health sectors, Namibia needs to introduce a universal health coverage system.

These were the words of Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader, McHenry Venaani, at a media briefing that took place at the party’s head office on Thursday, in which he provided updates on the outcomes of the party’s recently-held policy conference and election review.

Venaani said the policy conference adopted the party’s ‘One Constituency-One Clinic’ policy, which was also in the party’s election manifesto for 2019 and 2020. The party believes that each Namibian across all 121 constituencies must have access to basic healthcare. Therefore, the proposed policy remains a key position in terms of addressing accessibility to health.

“There is a need to address the patient-to-doctor ratio in Namibia. At the current moment, one doctor is in charge of 3 650 people in Namibia. As a key policy intervention, the policy conference adopted the need to train more doctors in order to close the doctor-patient ratio, particularly at our public health facilities,” said Venaani.

He added the conference also adopted infrastructure development and maintenance, including the building of new State hospitals, facilities for mental health patients and dialysis centres, among other key interventions that must also take centre stage.

“We still don’t have a State-owned dialysis centre or a hospital in the country 31 years after independence. If someone has kidney failure, then that person has no choice but to go to expensive private centres. These are the things we need to address as a matter of urgency,” stated Venaani.

He further added that in order to cut out the middlemen or ‘tenderpreneurs’ that are “milking” the procurement system in the health sector, the conference recommended that government develop and implement programmes for procuring the best medicines without tenders, in order to ensure that the “out-of-pocket” expenditure on health is reduced and that all citizens can access the necessary medical services.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency