N$576 million needed for health plan

ELLANIE SMITWINDHOEKNamibia will require more than N$576.3 million from 2021 to 2025 to implement the National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS).The health minister, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, launched the NAPHS yesterday, together with the National Human Resource for Health Strategic Plan (HRH) for 2020 to 2030.He said the NAPHS captures national priorities for health security, brings sectors together, identifies partners and allocates resources for health security capacity development.It takes into account the one-health approach, said Shangula.“The one-health approach is very crucial, as 75% of emerging pathogens in humans are of zoonotic nature.”He said progress towards global health security requires a greater focus on the interface between humans and animals and strong collaboration between the human health and animal health sectors.Shangula said for the past few years the world has recorded number of disease outbreaks and public health emergencies such as zika, cholera, Crimea-Congo haemorrhagic fever and Ebola, and the re-emergence of other infections such as yellow fever.Namibia has experienced a significant number of outbreaks for the past years, such as cholera, anthrax, rabies, Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever, polio, hepatitis E and the current coronavirus pandemic. International obligationsIn May 2005, the 58th World Health Assembly adopted the International Health Regulations (IHR) after protracted negotiations.These regulations are a legally binding agreement which defines countries' rights and obligations in preventing and managing public health events that have the potential to cross borders. The International Health Regulations came into force on 15 June 2007.Shangula said Namibia is signatory to the IHR. According to him the World Health Assembly requested the World Health Organisation (WHO) to develop a global implementation plan that includes immediate planning to improve delivery of the International Health Regulations.Action plansThe Global Strategic Action Plan recommends that member states, with the support of WHO and development partners develop and implement five-year national action plans. The NAPHS is one of these plans.“It provides guidance to identify evidence-based priority actions that can be implemented quickly to have immediate impact as well as the long-term actions for sustainable capacity development to improve health security.” Furthermore, Shangula elaborated on the National Human Resource for Health Strategic Plan (HRH). He said to attain the targets of the third Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the health ministry recognises the need to have an adequate and equitably distributed functional health workforce.He said the ministry therefore commissioned a situation analysis and health labour market projections to inform the development of the HRH and guide health workforce interventions.

N$576 million needed for health plan

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Namibian Sun 2026-07-03

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N$576 million needed for health plan

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Namibian Sun 2026-07-03

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