Prime minister Elijah Ngurare yesterday dismissed claims that planned ‘VIP wards’ at public hospitals would create a two-tier healthcare system, saying the government’s objective is to upgrade public health services accessible to all Namibians.
Responding to concerns raised in the National Assembly, Ngurare said the issue of a reported VIP ward to treat public office-bearers at Windhoek Central Hospital has been “dramatised” and misrepresented in public discourse.
“The question is good, but the matter, I think, is dramatised,” he said, adding that the initiative forms part of a broader government plan aligned with president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s directive to improve healthcare standards nationwide.
Ngurare said there is no intention to introduce preferential treatment for certain groups.
“There will be no different classes of services being provided.
That is not the intention. There is no life that is secondary to another,” he said.
The prime minister said similar upgrades are planned across several towns, including at Katutura State Hospital and other public hospitals at Rundu and Swakopmund as part of a nationwide effort to ensure equal quality of care.
Opposition lawmakers yesterday questioned the perceived inequality in public healthcare, following a presidential directive for public officials to start using public hospitals for treatment from 1 April.
Swanu of Namibia parliamentarian Evilastus Kaaronda raised concerns about public perception, asking whether the private ward that was opened at Windhoek Central Hospital following renovations contradicts the government’s policy of equality.
“Is this what the public feels it is – further social gratification where those who have would use it, and those who do not have the means would not?” he asked.
Vetaruhe Kandorozu of the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) said the initiative risks reinforcing inequality within the public healthcare system.
“The notion that is out there in the public is that when it’s our turn to be treated at state hospitals, we refurbish them specifically for us,” he said.
Kandorozu said while certain sections of hospitals may receive top-tier upgrades, many public facilities remain under-resourced.
“It’s not fair to prepare the food and serve you with the best sauce while the peasants are eating only with salt,” he said, adding that communities feel excluded from such developments. – Nampa
