THE Osire refugee camp, which was established in 1992 to host refugees from Angola, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia, has no doctor.
This was revealed by minister of health and social services Kalumbi Shangula during the handover of medical equipment, medicine and an ambulance to the camp on Friday.
The handover took place in partnership with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, the Ministry of Health and Social Services, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR).
Although the clinic is relatively well staffed . . . it does not have a medical doctor, Shangula said at the handover.
He said the lack of a doctor at the camp results in frequent referrals of patients to the Otjiwarongo State Hospital.
On average patients are being transported from Osire to Otjiwarongo three to four times a day, Shangula said, excluding emergencies and maternity cases.
The minister said the Namibian government accomodates the refugees at Osire in the spirit of pan-Africanism, and also because some Namibians know the difficulties of being uprooted from one’s home country to live in a foreign country.
In recent years, many refugees have returned to their home countries.
The clinic at Osire provides comprehensive healthcare services, which includes the screening and management of minor ailments, immunisation, Covid-19 vaccination, growth monitoring, family planning, antenatal care services, emergency deliveries, post-natal care and HIV counselling, testing and treatment, as well as the management of other health conditions, Shangula said.
Additionally there are cases that are transported to national referral health facilities in Windhoek for further medical intervention, he said.
Osire is currently served by one ambulance, which was donated by the UNCHR in 2010.
The ambulance, however, needs to be replaced, he said.
Therefore the donation of the new ambulance, medical equipment as well as pharmaceutical products from UNCHR has come at the most opportune time, Shangula said.
May the refugees and other asylum seekers who are accomodated here find some relief in the knowledge that there are people who care, and who are ready to assist and provide for them where they find themselves, who know and understand it is not easy to be displaced and forced to leave your country of birth, he said.
Daniel Kashikola, deputy minister of home affairs, immigration, safety and security, Otjozundjupa region governorJames Uerikua, regional councillor for Otjiwarongo Marlyne Mbajera, the head of the UNCHR’s Namibian office, Bernadette Mutakele Mutasi, and Otjozundjupa regional health director Gerbadus Timoteus were present at the handover.
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