N$127,5m to be injected into State hospitals

ABOUT 13 per cent of the N$2,4 billion budget allocation for the Ministry of Health will go towards upgrading hospitals and clinics across the country.

This was outlined by Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi, when he motivated the ministry’s budget vote in the National Assembly yesterday. He said the Katutura, Windhoek Central, Oshakati and Rundu State hospitals are to receive upgrades totalling N$127,5 million during the 2009-10 financial year.Kamwi said additional resources would be allocated to the Cardiac Unit at the Windhoek Central Hospital, whose launch he described as the highlight of the 2008-9 financial year.He said such resources would go towards the ‘provision of cardiothoracic and cardiology services to patients that need open-heart surgery and related procedures, thus reducing the number of patients to be transferred to other countries for this specialised service.’Three specialist cardiologists and a cardio-thoracic surgeon have already been identified for recruitment at the Unit, and 12 registered nurses, two medical officers, an anaesthetist and a clinical technologist are currently undergoing training at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town to secure the necessary skills for the Cardiac Unit.Clinics, health centres and district hospitals will also receive significant upgrades totalling N$205,2 million, with an additional allocation to the Onandjokwe Hospital, ‘which will now serve as a referral for district hospitals within its jurisdiction’.Kamwi noted that the increased allocation would allow for improvements ‘in service delivery in response to emergency and outreach services, better financial management, timely repair and refurbishment of health facilities.’Other key areas in the Ministry’s budget plans for the financial year will include improved provision of specialised clinical services, the reduction of maternal and infant deaths, the reduction of malnutrition among children under the age of five, increasing family planning coverage and access to reproductive health services, and the strengthening of outreach mobile services.Under the Disease Control programme, which will receive N$16,6 million, Kamwi said his Ministry would enhance its policy development and planning efforts to reduce the impact of HIV-AIDS, TB and malaria, with N$263 000 being earmarked for the preparation of the bi-annual HIV Sero Sentinel Surveillance.Besides State funds, Kamwi said the Ministry’s development partners have committed close to N$346 million towards programmes in the health sector.He said these funds would ‘continue to make a significant contribution to the development of the health and social welfare sector, including the fight against HIV-AIDS, development of physical infrastructure, human resources, strengthening of health systems, management mechanisms and other Family Health Services programmes’.