Networking Asia / Africa / Southeast Europe


Namibia

1. Landesinformation

Verwaltung, Gesundheit, Bevölkerung, Wirtschaft

Verwaltung

Allgemeines / Geografie

Quellen: 
Auswärtiges Amt, Länder- und Reiseinformationen,
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/de/laenderinfos/index_html
(abgerufen im August 2002)
CIA, The World Factbook 2001,
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
 (abgerufen im August 2002)

Politisches System

Quelle: Auswärtiges Amt, Länder- und Reiseinformationen, http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/de/laenderinfos/index_html (abgerufen im August 2002)

Verwaltungsstruktur

13 Regionen: Caprivi, Erongo, Hardap, Karas, Khomas, Kunene, Ohangwena, Okavango, Omaheke, Omusati, Oshana, Oshikoto, Otjozondjupa

Quelle: CIA, The World Factbook 2001, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html (abgerufen im August 2002)

Gesundheitswesen

Ausgaben für das Gesundheitswesen

Quelle: World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/country/en (abgerufen im August 2002)

Historical facts about Health Care in Namibia

The first formal health services in Namibia were established in the 1890's and consisted of a field hospital for the German soldiers in Windhoek and a hospital in Swakopmund. Several clinics were established in the North of Namibia between 1902 and 1908. Finish Missionary Society set up these clinics.

From those early beginnings four clear features or trend characterized the development of health services over the next 100 years until independence in 1990.

First there was an obvious increase in the number of facilities and other services. For example the number of doctors rose from 9 in 1907 to 43 in 1948, 130 in 1966, 324 in 1991 and 600 in the year 2001.

Much of the development occurs in the central and southern of Namibia because the white populations were the primary recipients of the medical services. A number of the facilities were also established in what was known as native reserve and homelands to serve the back Namibian population. The Missions first set up most of these services, while the South West Africa Administration provided additional facilities in later years.

The second trend was the increasing support given to mission facilities by the South West Africa Administration. This also meant that the administration could increasingly control the facilities. The first free medicines were supplied to mission hospital in 1935. By 1966 all running cost of the mission health services were subsidized by the government.

A third feature was of course the huge disparities between health services provided for whites and for blacks. Compared with the number of people, many more and better quality services were available to white than blacks. The disparities had many consequences, one example being that many more black than white children died at early age. Thus infants mortality were five to six times higher among blacks than whites between 1960 and 1981.

Finally, health services concentrated heavily on curative services, largely provided in well-equipped hospital in urban areas. Very little attention was given to disease prevention, the promotion of good nutrition or educational programs. The great majority of Namibians therefore ,spent most of the past 100 years lacking the kinds of service that most people take for granted today.

The General Structure of Health Services

The overall orientation of the public health service is towards the provision of primary care, where the predominant focus in on community health, preventative measures and treatment that can be provided relatively easily, cheaply and quickly to people.

Most primary health care is delivered through outreach point, clinics, health centers and district hospitals.

More serious health conditions are generally referred to and treated at higher (secondary and tertiary) levels. Health Centres and district Hospitals offer secondary health care level, while the most specialized and tertiary health care level is offered at Hospitals in Rundu, Oshakati, Walvisbay, Swakopmund, Luderitz, Keetmanshoop, Mariental, Gobabis and Windhoek. This hierarchy allows for different facilities to be staffed and equipped appropriately to provide different kinds of heath services care. Greater cost effective is also achieved by channelling problems to levels where they are best treated. Much more emphasis has been placed on primary health care since independence in1990.

While most Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS) activities takes place in its health facilities around the country, several programs target special issues. These are part of the larger primary health care focus and include programme on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis immunization, family planning and mother and child health care, school health, blindness, diarrheal diseases, vector-borne diseases such as malaria and bilharzia, acute Respiratory Infections, rehabilitation.

The are two level of management of public health:

  1. The national MOHSS head office in Windhoek.
  2. Regional management.

The National MOHSS is responsible for Social Services, policy and Resources Management. The other Department is in charge of Health Care Services, which is further divided in two directorates:

  1. Primary Health Care
  2. Tertiary Health Care

The broad organization and the responsibility in the Ministry of Health and Social Services and changes in regional management are having four health directorates to the 13 political regions.

In general the head office is responsible for policy formulation strategic planning, legislation, monitoring and overall coordination the Deputy Permanent Secretary is responsible for the Co-ordination Unit, which provides direction for the regional level of management.

The regional level is responsible for policy implementation and the provision of services.

Until recently, four directorates administered public health services in Namibia, and the directorates were divided in 34 Health District Centres. There was mostly the central, southern and the former Ovamboland only. The system of regional management is soon to be further decentralized to the 13 political regions, where MOHSS Regional management Team will manage health and social services within each region in close collaboration with its Regional Council.

Bevölkerung

Demografische Indikatoren

Quellen: 
CIA, The World Factbook 2001, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html (abgerufen im August 2002)
Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung, DSW-Datenreport (Angaben Mitte 2002), http://www.dsw-online.de/infothek_db.html (abgerufen im August 2002)

Indikatoren für reproduktive Gesundheit

Quelle: Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung, DSW-Datenreport, http://www.dsw-online.de/infothek_db.html (abgerufen im August 2002)

Ethnische Zusammensetzung, Religionen, Landessprachen

Bevölkerungsgruppen:
87,5 % Schwarze
6 % Weiße
6,5 % gemischt

Religionen:
80 – 90 % Christentum (davon mindestens 50 % Protestantismus)
10 – 20 % indigene Religionen

Landessprachen: 7 % Englisch (offizielle Amtssprache)
32 % Deutsch
Afrikaans (Verkehrssprache des Großteils der Bevölkerung und von etwa 60 % der weißen Bevölkerung)
indigene Sprachen: Oshivambo, Herero, Nama

Quelle: CIA, The World Factbook 2001, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html (abgerufen im August 2002)

Wirtschaft

Wirtschaftsdaten 2001

Wirtschaftsstruktur:

Quelle: Worldbank, Country at a Glance Tables, http://www.worldbank.org/data/countrydata/countrydata.html (abgerufen im August 2002)


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