Harnas Clinic given a N$100 000 health boost

THE international pharmaceutical company Sandoz has donated N$100 000 worth of medicine to the Harnas Lifeline Clinic at Epukiro in the Omaheke Region.

The clinic is run by volunteer doctors for one of the poorest communities of the country, the San. The medicines will be dispensed to the clinic as they need it.Only medicines that are needed at the clinic will be delivered to ensure that nothing goes to waste.Statistics kept by the doctors have given Sandoz precise information as to which medicines are needed the most.Dr Richard Kamwi, Minister of Health and Social Services and patron of the Harnas Lifeline Clinic, said: “On behalf of the most disadvantaged people of our country, the San and others in the area who are at the mercy of the Harnas Lifeline Clinic and the volunteer doctors, we the Ministry thank you.”He said that the ministry alone could not address the health needs of the country and that public-private partnerships such as this one were needed.The clinic has no budget for medicines, equipment or the salary of the fulltime nurse and they thus depend on donations.The Harnas Lifeline Clinic was started by Dr Rudi van Vuuren at the beginning of last year after a San child fell ill and died on the way to the nearest hospital at Gobabis.After this incident, Van Vuuren started lobbying among his colleagues and in no time private medical practitioners offered their time on a voluntary basis.An empty clinic at Epukiro was the perfect place and the Dutch foundation Burgland Charities gave the necessary funding to buy the building.Since February 2005 a group of doctors hasbeen going to the Harnas Lifeline Clinic once a month and treat patients for free.Those community members who can afford it, are asked to pay only N$50 for the consultation and medication.Members of the impoverished San community are treated free of charge.The doctors offering their services include general practitioners, eye specialists, a physiotherapist and a chemist, who also donates medicines.The medicines will be dispensed to the clinic as they need it.Only medicines that are needed at the clinic will be delivered to ensure that nothing goes to waste.Statistics kept by the doctors have given Sandoz precise information as to which medicines are needed the most.Dr Richard Kamwi, Minister of Health and Social Services and patron of the Harnas Lifeline Clinic, said: “On behalf of the most disadvantaged people of our country, the San and others in the area who are at the mercy of the Harnas Lifeline Clinic and the volunteer doctors, we the Ministry thank you.”He said that the ministry alone could not address the health needs of the country and that public-private partnerships such as this one were needed.The clinic has no budget for medicines, equipment or the salary of the fulltime nurse and they thus depend on donations.The Harnas Lifeline Clinic was started by Dr Rudi van Vuuren at the beginning of last year after a San child fell ill and died on the way to the nearest hospital at Gobabis.After this incident, Van Vuuren started lobbying among his colleagues and in no time private medical practitioners offered their time on a voluntary basis.An empty clinic at Epukiro was the perfect place and the Dutch foundation Burgland Charities gave the necessary funding to buy the building.Since February 2005 a group of doctors hasbeen going to the Harnas Lifeline Clinic once a month and treat patients for free.Those community members who can afford it, are asked to pay only N$50 for the consultation and medication.Members of the impoverished San community are treated free of charge.The doctors offering their services include general practitioners, eye specialists, a physiotherapist and a chemist, who also donates medicines.