PSEMAS funds must strengthen public health system – Ngurare

Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare says government is intensifying efforts to redirect the billions spent annually on the Public Service Employees Medical Aid Scheme (PSEMAS) into radically overhauling public health facilities.

A significant share of the scheme’s expenditure currently flows to the private sector, a trend government now wants to correct, Ngurare said.

“Close to N$4 billion is annually spent on PSEMAS, and most of this money goes to the private sector,” he said. “And we are saying part of that money must come to the public sector.”

The premier stressed that the reform is not only about redirecting funds but also about deliberately upgrading public health facilities to ensure they meet higher standards.

“In our reform of PSEMAS, we must also ensure, deliberately, that public health facilities are brought to par and even better than those in the private sector or compete with the best in the world,” Ngurare said.

Ngurare made these remarks at a recent graduation ceremony at the University of Namibia Rundu campus.

‘What’s good for the goose is good for the gander’

He further emphasised that the reforms must apply across the board, warning political leaders and senior government officials to embrace the public healthcare system instead of relying on private care.

“About 85% of Namibians are using public health facilities,” he said. “What is so special about us that we cannot use public health facilities where 85% of Namibians are using the same facilities?”

He added that leaders have a responsibility to strengthen and utilise the same services relied upon by ordinary citizens.

“There is no apartheid that is being contemplated,” he said. “Apartheid has been fought for. So many have died fighting against apartheid.”

Ngurare said improving public healthcare is central to addressing long-standing inequalities between urban and rural areas, noting that access to quality services should be uniform across the country.

“The humanity of every Namibian is the same. It cannot be right that those in urban areas must have better health facilities as opposed to those in rural areas,” he said.