Polytech opens new health resource centre

THE Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN) is the Ministry of Health and Social Services’ most valued partner in terms of capacity building in the areas of diagnosis and clinical prevention, Health Minister Richard Kamwi said.

Speaking at the launch of the Learning Resource Centre of the PoN’s School of Applied and Health Sciences, Kamwi said Government had since Independence largely relied on expatriates for health service delivery. He added that due to the lack of appropriate training facilities, Namibians who wished to pursue careers in health-related fields have had to go to neighbouring countries for further studies.Kamwi commended the management and staff of the PoN for taking the initiative and responding to the need for local capacity building in these fields through the establishment of the School of Health and Applied Sciences. ‘The facility being launched here today is yet another manifestation of the Polytechnic’s commitment to enhancing teaching and learning with up-to-date innovation.’ Kamwi said his ministry expects that the new resource centre would play an important role in ensuring that graduates from the School of Health and Applied Sciences are equipped with the most current knowledge and technical expertise.According to him the centre will significantly increase staff and student access to the latest medical knowledge, making the task of ‘adequately preparing our students for battle at the frontier of public healthcare, fighting and controlling established and emerging diseases much easier’.Kamwi added that a well-equipped resource centre would also improve access to top research findings and empirical data, ‘both of which are the cornerstones of academic credibility.’