President urges urgent action on health sector

PRESIDENT Hifikepunye Pohamba yesterday told the Ministry of Health to act with urgency and do something about deteriorating levels of service at health institutions.

Speaking at the launch of the National Policy on HIV-AIDS, Pohamba said the deteriorating service standards had placed the health and lives of patients at risk and needed to be “rectified without delay”. He said hygiene in and around public health facilities had worsened, with premises strewn with litter.”We should not allow our health facilities to deteriorate and become dilapidated.In this regard, I call upon all relevant departments to ensure that these facilities are clean and well maintained,” Pohamba said.He said he was worried about the dirty residential complexes where doctors, nurses and other health workers live.”These professionals should lead by example and ensure that the areas around their living quarters are clean and pleasant to look at,” he said.Pohamba’s public statement came less than 24 hours after he summoned Health Minister Dr Richard Kamwi to State House where he grilled him about the state of affairs at hospitals.Sources said during that meeting Pohamba told Kamwi that a dog was seen near the incinerator at the Windhoek Central Hospital and, when chased, dropped a piece of a person’s leg.Pohamba made it clear to Kamwi that he was not impressed with the incident and the state of affairs at health facilities.At yesterday’s ceremony, Kamwi announced that he would meet senior managers of his Ministry tomorrow morning to discuss the mess in the health facilities.Well-placed sources told The Namibian yesterday that the leadership of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) met with Kamwi late Monday afternoon to ask what he intended to do about the deteriorating state of health services.The umbrella union reportedly told Kamwi that while it was sympathetic to the call made by the Legal Assistance Centre that Government declare a state of emergency in the public health service, it appreciated the political and administrative implications the move might have on the Ministry.”All we were told was that the contractors don’t deliver proper services and that the staff morale was very low with nothing in place to boost it.There is a huge [communication] gap between the top management and those who work on the ground,” according to one union source.Unions allegedly told Kamwi that they approached him to clarify the issues before calling a media briefing to either support or condemn some of the sentiments expressed by the LAC and other institutions.He said hygiene in and around public health facilities had worsened, with premises strewn with litter.”We should not allow our health facilities to deteriorate and become dilapidated.In this regard, I call upon all relevant departments to ensure that these facilities are clean and well maintained,” Pohamba said.He said he was worried about the dirty residential complexes where doctors, nurses and other health workers live.”These professionals should lead by example and ensure that the areas around their living quarters are clean and pleasant to look at,” he said.Pohamba’s public statement came less than 24 hours after he summoned Health Minister Dr Richard Kamwi to State House where he grilled him about the state of affairs at hospitals.Sources said during that meeting Pohamba told Kamwi that a dog was seen near the incinerator at the Windhoek Central Hospital and, when chased, dropped a piece of a person’s leg.Pohamba made it clear to Kamwi that he was not impressed with the incident and the state of affairs at health facilities. At yesterday’s ceremony, Kamwi announced that he would meet senior managers of his Ministry tomorrow morning to discuss the mess in the health facilities.Well-placed sources told The Namibian yesterday that the leadership of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) met with Kamwi late Monday afternoon to ask what he intended to do about the deteriorating state of health services.The umbrella union reportedly told Kamwi that while it was sympathetic to the call made by the Legal Assistance Centre that Government declare a state of emergency in the public health service, it appreciated the political and administrative implications the move might have on the Ministry.”All we were told was that the contractors don’t deliver proper services and that the staff morale was very low with nothing in place to boost it.There is a huge [communication] gap between the top management and those who work on the ground,” according to one union source.Unions allegedly told Kamwi that they approached him to clarify the issues before calling a media briefing to either support or condemn some of the sentiments expressed by the LAC and other institutions.