Lack of ambulances risks lives in Kavango
Essential healthcare services appear to be a luxury for critically ill patients in the rural areas of the Kavango regions, with some forced fork out hundreds of dollars to hitchhike to the nearest healthcare facility.
The alternative? Waiting for an ambulance that could take up to five hours to arrive, if at all.
A sick person from Karukuvisa village in the Kavango West Region has to pay N$180 for a 100-kilometre round trip to the nearest clinic - at Gcwatjinga village - and back, Namibian Sun found.
Gcwatjinga is about 80 kilometres from Rundu.
Those who cannot afford the hitchhike fare are left with no option but to use donkey or oxen carts to reach to the nearest healthcare facility.
Costly travels
Namibian Sun has reported on the lack of ambulances in the regions for years, with the health ministry seemingly reluctant to address the shortcoming.
In 2019, this publication ran an article on Mururani village residents who rely on a mobile health clinic that only opens twice a week, while an ambulance that is supposed to service the area is stationed 130 kilometres away in Rundu.
Prior to the establishment of the mobile clinic in 2017, the villagers had to travel about 30 kilometres to the Katjinakatji or Mpora clinics.
For complex medical issues, villagers still have to travel about 130 kilometres to either Rundu or Grootfontein, while spending hundreds of dollars on transport.
Mangetti residents are forced to travel about 100 kilometres for treatment at the Katjinakatji clinic.
Visiting hospitals in Rundu or Grootfontein means 200 kilometres of travel and associated costs for these locals.
Desperate times
In 2020, Namibian Sun reported on Maria Kandere from Suni village in Kavango West, who was ill at the time, being transported in a canoe pulled by cattle.
She was returning from the Sikarosompo clinic where she received treatment.
Sikarosompo clinic is about 12 kilometres from Suni village and about 30 kilometres south of Nkurenkuru.
According to Kandere's relative, who was guiding the cattle at the time, they left home at around 06:00 and arrived at the clinic at 11:00 that morning.
Hours to reach remote areas
In response to questions sent to the ministry, Kavango West health director Franciska Hamutenya admitted that there is a serious need for ambulances in the region.
Speaking on behalf of executive director Ben Nangombe, she said: “There is a need for more ambulances to be procured to cater for remote facilities, such as Gcwatjinga, Erago and Mpora clinics, and the facilities under the Lutheran Medical Services, which are the Sikarosompo and Muparara clinics”.
“Ncamagoro district has one ambulance which is at Mupini health centre, and this is the ambulance serving the entire district,” she added.
Hamutenya said due to the lack of a district hospital in Ncamagoro, referrals are taken to Rundu, with ambulances taking hours to reach remote areas.
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The alternative? Waiting for an ambulance that could take up to five hours to arrive, if at all.
A sick person from Karukuvisa village in the Kavango West Region has to pay N$180 for a 100-kilometre round trip to the nearest clinic - at Gcwatjinga village - and back, Namibian Sun found.
Gcwatjinga is about 80 kilometres from Rundu.
Those who cannot afford the hitchhike fare are left with no option but to use donkey or oxen carts to reach to the nearest healthcare facility.
Costly travels
Namibian Sun has reported on the lack of ambulances in the regions for years, with the health ministry seemingly reluctant to address the shortcoming.
In 2019, this publication ran an article on Mururani village residents who rely on a mobile health clinic that only opens twice a week, while an ambulance that is supposed to service the area is stationed 130 kilometres away in Rundu.
Prior to the establishment of the mobile clinic in 2017, the villagers had to travel about 30 kilometres to the Katjinakatji or Mpora clinics.
For complex medical issues, villagers still have to travel about 130 kilometres to either Rundu or Grootfontein, while spending hundreds of dollars on transport.
Mangetti residents are forced to travel about 100 kilometres for treatment at the Katjinakatji clinic.
Visiting hospitals in Rundu or Grootfontein means 200 kilometres of travel and associated costs for these locals.
Desperate times
In 2020, Namibian Sun reported on Maria Kandere from Suni village in Kavango West, who was ill at the time, being transported in a canoe pulled by cattle.
She was returning from the Sikarosompo clinic where she received treatment.
Sikarosompo clinic is about 12 kilometres from Suni village and about 30 kilometres south of Nkurenkuru.
According to Kandere's relative, who was guiding the cattle at the time, they left home at around 06:00 and arrived at the clinic at 11:00 that morning.
Hours to reach remote areas
In response to questions sent to the ministry, Kavango West health director Franciska Hamutenya admitted that there is a serious need for ambulances in the region.
Speaking on behalf of executive director Ben Nangombe, she said: “There is a need for more ambulances to be procured to cater for remote facilities, such as Gcwatjinga, Erago and Mpora clinics, and the facilities under the Lutheran Medical Services, which are the Sikarosompo and Muparara clinics”.
“Ncamagoro district has one ambulance which is at Mupini health centre, and this is the ambulance serving the entire district,” she added.
Hamutenya said due to the lack of a district hospital in Ncamagoro, referrals are taken to Rundu, with ambulances taking hours to reach remote areas.
[email protected]; [email protected]
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