Kakunawe Shinana
28 April 2008
Windhoek — IF staff shortages in the health sector are not solved soon, Namibia will struggle to meet its Millennium Development Goals, Health Minister Richard Kamwi said at a graduation ceremony last week.
The 379 newly qualified nurses, midwives, pharmacy and radiographic assistants graduated from the Health Ministry's National Health Training Centre in Windhoek.
Kamwi said his Ministry has put in place some strategies to accelerate the training of more health professionals. "Currently there are 709 students enrolled in various courses at the Ministry's training centres and it is equally important to note that 879 students are enrolled in health-related studies at the University of Namibia during this academic year," he said. The Ministry and the Polytechnic of Namibia have also collaborated to offer B-Tech degree and diploma courses in environmental health and medical laboratory technology from this year.
Many more Namibian students were studying medical courses at universities in Cuba, Russia, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa, the Minister said. "Accelerating the training of health personnel is not the only strategy my Ministry has put in place to address human resources challenges.
There are many more challenges such as the provision of financial assistance to students in health-related fields," Kamwi said.
According to Kamwi the Ministry financially assisted 525 students to the tune of N$3,9 million during the last financial year.
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