Namibia's path to health equity
Youth powering Universal Healthcare Access
The 2025 Namibia Health Exhibition took place in Windhoek, championing a united vision for a healthier and more equitable nation. The event, a collaborative effort by the country’s leading healthcare associations, centred on the urgent theme: “Equity in Health: Ensuring Universal Access to Primary Health Care for All.”
Health minister Esperance Luvindao, delivered a keynote address on behalf of President Dr Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, affirming that “health is not a privilege; it is both a constitutional and a human right.”
Speaking at the event, Luvindao highlighted significant national progress, noting that Namibia now ranks among the top six African nations on the World Health Organisation’s Universal Health Coverage Index. Additionally, a landmark Universal Health Coverage Policy has been launched, with a bill set to transform healthcare access into a legal guarantee.
For the youth, government efforts are focused on a tech-driven future, supported by the National eHealth Strategy and a new Digital Health Policy aimed at creating a more accessible system with digital records and virtual consultations.
Echoing this national commitment, co-founder and event coordinator, Grace Nakalondo, said that the exhibition was born from renewed resolve following the Covid-19 pandemic. She emphasised actionable, youth-relevant discussions, including making infertility treatments payable through health insurance and strengthening local pharmaceutical manufacturing to create jobs and ensure medicine security.
Namibia Health Exhibition chairperson, Naambo Taimi Amakutuwa, offered a grounded perspective, sharing the personal journey of building the exhibition from a fragile dream. She highlighted critical challenges for the next generation to solve, noting that only 17.5% of Namibians have health insurance and that rural communities often travel vast distances for care. She illustrated this by describing a grandmother in Rupara for whom the clinic is far away and modern healthcare feels culturally distant, underscoring the need to bridge not only distance, but belief.
Crucially, Amakutuwa highlighted the platform’s direct investment in young people, announcing that four students were sponsored to attend a health exhibition in Cape Town. She noted that this platform builds futures, not just connections, pointing to tangible outcomes such as covered school fees and new employment opportunities for young mentees.
Health minister Esperance Luvindao, delivered a keynote address on behalf of President Dr Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, affirming that “health is not a privilege; it is both a constitutional and a human right.”
Speaking at the event, Luvindao highlighted significant national progress, noting that Namibia now ranks among the top six African nations on the World Health Organisation’s Universal Health Coverage Index. Additionally, a landmark Universal Health Coverage Policy has been launched, with a bill set to transform healthcare access into a legal guarantee.
For the youth, government efforts are focused on a tech-driven future, supported by the National eHealth Strategy and a new Digital Health Policy aimed at creating a more accessible system with digital records and virtual consultations.
Echoing this national commitment, co-founder and event coordinator, Grace Nakalondo, said that the exhibition was born from renewed resolve following the Covid-19 pandemic. She emphasised actionable, youth-relevant discussions, including making infertility treatments payable through health insurance and strengthening local pharmaceutical manufacturing to create jobs and ensure medicine security.
Namibia Health Exhibition chairperson, Naambo Taimi Amakutuwa, offered a grounded perspective, sharing the personal journey of building the exhibition from a fragile dream. She highlighted critical challenges for the next generation to solve, noting that only 17.5% of Namibians have health insurance and that rural communities often travel vast distances for care. She illustrated this by describing a grandmother in Rupara for whom the clinic is far away and modern healthcare feels culturally distant, underscoring the need to bridge not only distance, but belief.
Crucially, Amakutuwa highlighted the platform’s direct investment in young people, announcing that four students were sponsored to attend a health exhibition in Cape Town. She noted that this platform builds futures, not just connections, pointing to tangible outcomes such as covered school fees and new employment opportunities for young mentees.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article