Odimbwa residents lament lack of health services
Residents of Odimbwa village in the Omusati Region’s Etayi constituency are crying foul over the lack of nurses, medicine and cleaners at the local clinic.
The residents said they feel neglected by government, and the health ministry in particular.
According to a resident who preferred to remain anonymous, the clinic had five nurses who have since left. Now, only one nurse has been on duty at the clinic for over a month, he said.
“The clinic gets crowded and sometimes patients have to go back home without being assisted because there is only one nurse."
He added that the one nurse knocks off as late as 20:00 without having attended to all the patients.
Long queues
“Sometimes a patient would spend the entire day in the queue just for them to be told that the clinic is out of medicine,” he said.
When Namibian Sun visited the clinic, a number of patients queuing outside echoed these sentiments, adding that the clinic needs extra nurses to assist villagers.
They further questioned why government is not employing new nurses and cleaners at the clinic, which caters to Odimbwa and neighbouring villages.
Suffering
In a telephonic interview, Etayi constituency councillor Hans Haikali said he visited the clinic and reported the issue to Sabina David, who oversees the health sector at Oshikuku.
“To be honest, people are suffering there, we need a solution as soon as possible,” he said.
He added that his office cannot do anything, as his line of duty was to familiarise himself with the situation and report it to the person in charge.
When approached by Namibian Sun, David passed the buck to Omusati regional health director Alfons Amoomo. Calls to his office and personal numbers went unanswered.
The residents said they feel neglected by government, and the health ministry in particular.
According to a resident who preferred to remain anonymous, the clinic had five nurses who have since left. Now, only one nurse has been on duty at the clinic for over a month, he said.
“The clinic gets crowded and sometimes patients have to go back home without being assisted because there is only one nurse."
He added that the one nurse knocks off as late as 20:00 without having attended to all the patients.
Long queues
“Sometimes a patient would spend the entire day in the queue just for them to be told that the clinic is out of medicine,” he said.
When Namibian Sun visited the clinic, a number of patients queuing outside echoed these sentiments, adding that the clinic needs extra nurses to assist villagers.
They further questioned why government is not employing new nurses and cleaners at the clinic, which caters to Odimbwa and neighbouring villages.
Suffering
In a telephonic interview, Etayi constituency councillor Hans Haikali said he visited the clinic and reported the issue to Sabina David, who oversees the health sector at Oshikuku.
“To be honest, people are suffering there, we need a solution as soon as possible,” he said.
He added that his office cannot do anything, as his line of duty was to familiarise himself with the situation and report it to the person in charge.
When approached by Namibian Sun, David passed the buck to Omusati regional health director Alfons Amoomo. Calls to his office and personal numbers went unanswered.
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