In an effort to achieve universal health coverage, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) is taking a new approach of capacitating and retraining community health workers to enable them to provide a portfolio of health services at community level.
Speaking at a recent media conference here, MoHSS Executive Director Ben Nangombe explained the ministry is currently working on a road map of capacitating health workers with a holistic approach of a range of health care services to enable the provision of primary health care beyond health facilities, irrespective of the distance between health facilities and communities.
Nangombe explained in the past community health workers were classified and only rendered limited specialised health services, such as in Tuberculosis, malaria, HIV and AIDS, family planning and adolescent health, immunisation and nutrition, noting the new approach aims to empower individual health workers with a wide range of health services to extend at community level.
“The new approach will enable a community health worker to advise the community whether it’s on TB, malaria and many health services and not be limited to only one health specialised service approach. That is what we are trying to do in order to get more value and mileage,” he noted.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes universal health coverage, as all people having access to the health services they need as well as when and where they need them - without financial hardship.
Namibia has been implementing a community health workers programme since 2012 with over 1 600 community health workers.
Nangombe further explained the ministry is having the challenge of resources due to budgetary constraints to recruit more community health workers to meet the desired results of universal health coverage, noting, however, it is an ongoing effort to recruit more.
Meanwhile, outgoing WHO Representative to Namibia, Charles Sagoe-Moses recently echoed that there is a need for Namibia to continue strengthening its health personnel capacity to ensure universal health coverage and primary health care.
Dr Sagoe-Moses during a courtesy visit to President Hage Geingob at State House last month said Namibia should invest in community health workers in efforts to provide universal health coverage so every Namibian has access to a full range of quality health services, without financial hardship.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency