Namibia will be upgrading its public health facilities to a standard “suitable for the President to use them” – after an announcement that from April 2026, all senior government officials will be urged to use state hospitals and clinics.
The Namibian reports that President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah issued the directive last week to all senior staff under the Public Service Medical Aid Scheme (Psemas).
Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare said civil servants currently invest billions of dollars in the private healthcare sector, and that the government has one year to assess the feasibility of the transition from private to public healthcare, which is expected to cost N$16m.
Ngurare added that the transition will create 31 000 jobs in the sector.
Executive Director of Health and Social Services Ben Nangombe said the government has spent N$3bn on more than 200 000 civil servants in the private sector through the state-funded Psemas.
Progress
The government is on a quest to improve public healthcare and reduce dependency on private sector referrals at all 34 district hospitals countrywide.
He said it spends more than N$100m annually referring patients to private facilities for dialysis, and in response, several public hospitals have now been equipped with dialysis machines to provide in-house treatment.
Key developments, Nangombe added, apart from dialysis centres, are the expansion of intensive care units (ICUs) and the enhancement of neonatal care at all hospitals.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Namibia had only 20 ICU beds available in the public healthcare sector, but there are now 200 beds.
“We are also ensuring every district hospital is equipped with ICU facilities.”
The expansion of available services will include facilities for open heart and brain surgery, and the creation of another 11 134 positions on top of the existing 20 000 healthcare workers.
Additionally, 1 400 new positions have been created to support mission hospitals that receive subsidies from the Health Ministry.
A spokesperson said there are no conflicting directives regarding Psemas, and that the medical aid scheme would continue.
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