Health in Namibia
The health status of
Namibia is an
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative[6] finds that Namibia is fulfilling 74.8% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income.[7] When looking at the right to health with respect to children, Namibia achieves 88.0% of what is expected based on its current income.[7] In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population, the country achieves only 66.2% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income.[7] Namibia falls into the "very bad" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling only 70.0% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.[7]
Facilities
In 2023, Namibia had 36 hospitals, 56 health centres, 2 rehabilitation centres, and 322 clinics.[8] There are a further 1,150 smaller service points.[9] Health care facilities in the country are sophisticated but not always affordable to the poorer part of the population. Certain services like
The capital
Medical personnel
In 2004, the country had 598 physicians and specialist doctors - 0.3 per 1,000 inhabitants, and 6,145 midwives and nurses - 3 per 1,000 inhabitants. This number is significantly larger than in the rest of Africa[13] and slightly exceeds the minimum density recommended by the World Health Organization. In 2023, the number of doctors was 563. Several medical specialisations, for instance rheumatology, endocrinology, and oncology, have only one practitioner in Namibia.[8] The total numbers do not reflect that the private health care facilities are luxuriously staffed while there is a shortage in the public sector.[14]
Online databases of healthcare providers
- Health Professions Council of Namibia (HPCNA): Official registration body for medical professionals.
- Medpages: Healthcare providers by category and region. Search allows finding of providers by name or specialty.
Health status
Namibia conducted a third Demographic and Health Survey in 2013 (NDHS) which can be used for national and international comparison health wise. It is done every 5 years map the general health status. In that period, the country had one of the most skewed distributions of income per capita in the world—the result of years of colonisation and war in the past, which gave an unbalanced development throughout the country.[15] Namibia compared to world average is nearly similar coming up 2016, except for Life expectancy where Namibia is still lacking behind with 64,7 compared to world average of 71,7.
Life expectancy
Life expectancy (LEY) in the South West African territory increased from 40,3 years in 1950 to 65.7 years for women, 59.0 years for men, in 1990. Mainly due to the impact of HIV/AIDS it dropped to 53 years for women, 50 years for men, in 2004, and has since risen again to 65.4 years for women, 56.2 years for men.[1] This means Namibia as a country has improved, but is still far behind many of the countries in the world with longest LEY of 83,3, and slightly worse off than at independence in 1990.[16]
Under 5 infant mortality
Under 5 infant mortality (U5IM) rate has decreased in Namibia from 280/1000 live births in 1950 to 46,7/1000 live births in 2015 and ranks number 52 in the world.[17][page needed] Namibia does have a low level of U5IM compared to other sub-Saharan countries as the regional level was 84/1000 live births in 2015. However it is still too high according to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3) made by the United Nations (UN), which declares that the global amount of U5IM should not exceed 25/1000 births by 2030.[18]
Fertility Rate
In 1950 Namibia had a
Specific illnesses
Albinism
As of 2018[update] there were at least 1,800 people living with Albinism, the highest per-capita incidence in the world.[19] They need to make specific lifestyle adaptations because of the extreme weather conditions with about 300 days of sunshine annually. Children are regularly teased at school, and despite outreach activities some parents hide their affected children from society.[20]
Due to high prevalence of alcohol abuse, 8% of adult Namibians suffer from related illnesses. Alcohol consumption is increasing[update] particularly in the north of the country (the four regions of
Cancer
Due to exposure to sunshine and prevalence of
Cholera
There are occasional Cholera outbreaks in the north of the country, particularly in the Kunene Region.[23]
During the
HIV/AIDS
The
Overall, from 1990 to 2004 HIV/AIDS alone accounted for more lost life years than were gained by all other health improvements combined. Although new infections as well as deaths halved in the period from 2004 to 2013, life expectancy still has not reached pre-independence levels.[1]
Leprosy
There is a small group of approximately 60
Malaria
The malaria problem seems to be compounded by the AIDS epidemic. Research has shown that in Namibia the risk of contracting malaria is 14.5% greater if a person is also infected with HIV. The risk of death from malaria is also raised by approximately 50% with a concurrent HIV infection.[29]
Non-communicable diseases
Namibia faces a non-communicable disease burden. The Demographic and Health Survey (2013) summarises findings on elevated blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity:[30]
- Among eligible respondents age 35–64, more than 4 in 10 women (44 percent) and men (45 percent) have elevated blood pressure or are currently taking medicine to lower their blood pressure.
- Forty-nine percent of women and 61 percent of men are not aware that they have elevated blood pressure.
- Forty-three percent of women and 34 percent of men with hypertension are taking medication for their condition.
- Only 29 percent of women and 20 percent of men with hypertension are taking medication and have their blood pressure under control.
- Six percent of women and 7 percent of men are diabetic. An additional 7 percent of women and 6 percent of men are prediabetic.
- Sixty-seven percent of women and 74 percent of men with diabetes are taking medication to lower their blood glucose.
The vast majority (87%) of Namibian children do not obtain the
Tuberculosis
Namibia has a high rate of
References
- ^ a b c "Namibia: State of the Nation's Health". www.healthdata.org. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- ^ "Namibia: A partner country with a shared history". German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ^ Nghinomenwa, Erastus (19 May 2020). "Medical aids only cover 17% of Namibians". The Namibian. p. 11.
- ^ "Health Expenditure Profile Namibia". Global Health Expenditure Data Base. World Health Organization. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ^ "Global spending on health: Weathering the storm". World Health Organization. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
- ^ a b c d "Namibia - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
- ^ a b Petersen, Shelleygan (15 June 2023). "One Doctor per 1,000 Patients". The Namibian. pp. 1–2.
- ^ "phcpi Namibia: Organisation of Services". Primary Health Care Performance Initiative. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ^ Ekongo, John (2010-05-31). "Hamba kahle, Jackson Kaujeua". New Era. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16.
- ^ Isaacs, Denver (16 February 2010). "False rumours about Kaujeua". The Namibian.
- ^ Smith, Jana-Mari (5 April 2011). "RC Hospital makes history". The Namibian. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012.
- ^ "Country Health System Fact Sheet". World Health Organization. 2006.
- ^ a b "Namibia. Country Information". World Health Organization. 2020.
- ^ "Namibia Demographic and Health Survey 2013" (PDF). Government of Namibia. 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ "Life expectancy, years: Namibia". gapminder.org. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ "The State of the World's Children 2016". UNICEF. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ a b "Progress on Goal 3 in 2017". United Nations. 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
- ^ Kapitako, Alvine (13 June 2018). "Cancer, not discrimination, threatens Namibian albinos". New Era.
- ^ "Eva Ndatipo comfortable in her own skin". New Era. 30 October 2015.
- ^ Xoagub, Francis (4 August 2011). "Alcohol abuse up". New Era. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012.
- ^ Kapitako, Alvine (7 February 2013). "Skin cancer rife in Namibia". New Era. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013.
- ^ Tjihenuna, Theresia (10 January 2014). "Cholera death toll rises to eight". The Namibian.
- ^ Shikongo, Arlana (16 March 2020). "Namibia battles coronavirus". The Namibian. p. 1.
- ^ Nakale, Albertina (16 March 2020). "Corona mayhem". New Era. p. 1.
- ^ "National AIDS Conference in Swakopmund". U.S. Embassy in Namibia. U.S. Embassy in Namibia. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
- ^ "Know your response". www.unaids.org. UNAIDS. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
- ^ Smith, Jana-Mari (1 April 2011). "Leprosy: the reality in Namibia". The Namibian. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
- PMID 16229771.
- ^ Ministry of Health and Social Services (2013); ICF Macro (2013) Namibia Demographic and Health Survey 2013 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b Shikongo, Arlana (17 October 2019). "280 000 Namibian children undernourished". The Namibian.
- ^ Tjihenuna, Theresia (2 April 2014). "More than 1 million Namibians defecate in open". The Namibian. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ Kahiurika, Ndanki (28 August 2019). "An elder's tale of winning the TB battle". The Namibian. p. 8.