Cancer patients in the Erongo region will no longer have to travel to Windhoek for certain oncology services following the official opening of Phase 1 of the Walvis Bay Oncology Centre on Friday.
The new unit, established at Walvis Bay District Hospital, is aimed at reducing the burden on patients who have been forced to relocate or commute to the capital for treatment at Windhoek Central Hospital.
Speaking at the event, Cancer Association of Namibia (CAN) chief executive Rolf Hansen said the highly centralised cancer care model has placed significant pressure on families and the health system.
“They understood that the highly centralised model, with state oncology services concentrated at Windhoek Central Hospital, places enormous strain on patients and families, and equally on our national health system,” Hansen said, referring to primary donor Langer Heinrich Uranium Mine.
The centre was supported and coordinated in kind by CAN, with funding mainly from the mining company.
Hansen said decentralising services is central to improving both patient outcomes and quality of life.
“When patients are treated closer to home, surrounded by their families and support systems, their resilience is strengthened. Mental well-being and spiritual fortitude are preserved, and this empowers the physical body to endure and to fight,” he said.
The opening of the centre forms part of CAN’s broader strategy to strengthen oncology services beyond Windhoek.
Hansen noted that the association formally established its Erongo regional branch in 2017, with a commitment to support public health services in the region.
In 2024, CAN introduced the Namibia Breast Clinic Programme at state hospitals at Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.
The programme is also active in Windhoek, Keetmanshoop, Onandjokwe, Oshakati, Rundu and Katima Mulilo.
The association last week also opened a Swakopmund unit of Palliative Care Namibia to expand access to structured end-of-life care.
Hansen said the Walvis Bay Oncology Centre will work in collaboration with CAN’s Erongo Centre, Palliative Care Namibia and Windhoek Central Hospital to strengthen what he described as a continuum of care from diagnosis to treatment and, where necessary, palliation.
“The opening of Phase 1 of the Walvis Bay Oncology Centre is more than infrastructure. It is a statement of national intent that every Namibian matters when it comes to cancer care,” he said.
He described the first phase as measured, sustainable, and built with the future in mind, adding that even at this stage, it would make cancer treatment journeys less burdensome for Erongo residents.
“This is not merely the opening of a facility. It is the strengthening of a system. It is the decentralisation of dignity,” Hansen said.
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