Groot Aub residents desperate for better healthcare

Hordes of Groot Aub residents and those from neighbouring farms are in desperate need of an ambulance and doctor to be stationed at the Groot Aub clinic.The dusty settlement, located south of Windhoek, boasts a population of approximately 20 000 people, who are forced to travel to Windhoek or Rehoboth for medical treatment that requires a doctor.The residents also claim the clinic often runs out of medication and that they are forced to travel to Windhoek at night because the clinic closes at 17:00 as well as over weekends.The Windhoek Rural constituency, under which Groot Aub falls, has been hardest hit by abject poverty over the years, but despite the suffering of the community, constituency councillor Piet Adams said his office is collecting data to see “whether the request for an ambulance and a doctor at the local clinic is indeed a need”.“It is a very difficult situation but we now have a task committee who are tasked with certain functions which includes the establishment of a health centre, ambulance and a permanent doctor. We will be given feedback on this next month,” he said on Friday when hundreds of Groot Aub residents got free medical services from Egyptian doctors who are visiting the country for a week-long outreach.According to him, there have been talks about the need for an ambulance for years, but he is not certain why it has not materialised. He added that they are working - alongside the health ministry - on a survey to determine the real need.Clear as dayThe grave need for a doctor and timely access to medication was, however, clearly demonstrated when hordes of residents lined up from the break of dawn on Thursday morning to gain access to the free healthcare services from the Egyptian doctors.The greatest headache is the persistent shortage of blood pressure medication, which is often out of stock for months on end, forcing already impoverished elderly to pay for medication at private pharmacies in Windhoek.Elizabeth Garises (75) from nearby farm Kanobib, who is in a wheelchair, told Namibian Sun her leg was amputated in the Katutura Hospital in Windhoek two years ago – without the doctors giving her any reason.Meanwhile, she suffers from severe burning pain throughout the lower body and her remaining leg, but said the service at the clinic is terrible.‘No mercy’“We are always waiting; there is no mercy for us as the elderly. No one gives us special treatment. Sometimes we sit here and get hungry and with the wheelchair you develop bladder issues so you cannot even go to a toilet because someone may take your turn,” she said.Even when the government mobile outreach comes to the village, they reportedly never visit her at home to even take her blood pressure, and instead her elderly husband must walk to the outreach point to collect her medication.Community activist and Groot Aub resident Katrina Oa-Eib said many of elderly are often forced to live without their medication when the clinic is out of stock.“Many of them have only their N$1 300 [monthly pension] which they use to take care of their grandchildren and then they must use this same money to send someone to Windhoek to get the medicine at pharmacies at very high costs,” she said.jemima@namibiansun.com

Groot Aub residents desperate for better healthcare

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-07

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Groot Aub residents desperate for better healthcare

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Namibian Sun 2022-07-07

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