Windhoek — Health in Namibia has improved in many areas, the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in the country said yesterday.

Dr Magda Robalo said Namibia could boast with eliminating measles, leprosy and neonatal tetanus, and almost eliminating polio. However, challenges such as HIV-AIDS, the threat of emerging diseases such as bird flu and the health impact of climate change were obstacles in the way of progress.

"The cross-cutting nature of these development challenges threatens progress in Namibia and if not properly addressed, could even reverse some of the achievements we have made in many sectors," she said. Robalo made these remarks at the WHO's 60th anniversary celebration in Windhoek, where a number of the UN agency's plans for promoting public health were announced.

Health Minister Richard Kamwi, who was the main speaker at the event, said Government and the WHO had over the years celebrated many successes. He said thanks to the WHO, Namibia should soon return to polio-free status. Namibia had not reported any polio cases for almost ten years when last year's outbreak of the disease cancelled its polio-free status.

WHO and the Ministry of Health plans a number of events around health issues for the rest of the year.