The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) has revealed that only 10 regions in the country have fair staffing of health care workers, representing 71 per cent in areas of key service delivery, district hospitals, health centres and clinics.

A Health Care Workforce Status Report for 2022 issued recently indicated that only three regions, Khomas, Erongo and Otjozondjupa have good staffing, while none of the regions have ‘very good’ staffing as per the scoring model.

The report indicated that the staffing levels vary across district hospitals with Mariental, Lüderitz, Nankudu, Okakarara, Karasburg, Okahao, Tsandi, and Omaruru having very low staffing levels.

It said by 31 July 2022 MoHSS had a total of 21 138 approved posts of which 13 029 representing 62 per cent were filled, while 1 463 representing 56 per cent were temporarily filled.

“The vacancies on the approved establishment that are not filled are mainly due to funding constraints and difficulties finding and recruiting certain cadres on the market,” the report said.

The report also noted that Government funds 81 per cent of the filled posts while the United States of America President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funds 17 per cent of the healthcare workforce. The Cuban volunteers constitute less than 2 per cent.

It said the ministry has a total of 92 volunteers from Cuba of whom the majority are specialists (59 per cent), pharmacists (16 per cent), and biomedical engineers (13 per cent), while others include, dentists, anaesthetists, physicians, gynaecologists, maxillofacial surgeons, paediatricians, surgeons, dermatologists, and prosthodontists.

“Government supports the majority of health care workers in all 14 regions, though the donors play a significant role in a few regions such as in Kavango East, Khomas, Oshana, and Oshikoto,” it said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency