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Namibia Medical Volunteer Project

As a medical volunteer in Namibia you will help to provide valuable support and assistance to the Caprivi region’s doctors, nurses and health workers. You will make an important contribution to the improvement of health and welfare services for the local communities.

Background

The aim of the Namibia Medical Volunteer Project is to promote good health programmes, create awareness and provide education about ways to prevent the spread of disease.

Africa’s population, of approximately one billion people in 2009, continues to suffer from a huge burden of potentially preventable and treatable diseases.   The result is not just high mortality rates and suffering, but also a significant negative impact upon economic development and the social structure of communities.  It is estimated that more than two million people die as a result of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa each year and UNAIDS reported about 92% of all AIDS deaths worldwide in 2007 were in Africa.  In addition, WHO 2008 figures estimated that 385,000 people die from Tuberculosis and nearly one million from malaria in Africa each year.

These figures are still so high, despite the availability of effective methods of prevention and treatment and medical advances being made.  This is largely due to the diseases being rooted in poverty and regions with weak health systems.  Other reasons include marginalisation and stigma associated with certain diseases and a lack of education and understanding.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is undermining previous advances made in life expectancy, which in sub-Saharan Africa has now been reduced to about 43 years of age.  Communicable childhood diseases also carry a heavy toll.  Millions of children die each year before the age of five in the African region, as a result of diarrhoea, pneumonia, measles and malaria.  Malnutrition is linked to more than 50% of all childhood deaths.  In the face of these diseases other important health problems can be overlooked, such as the hundreds of thousands of women who die in childbirth each year.  Standards of care and support for people with mental health problems and physical disability are also poor in many areas.

There is a significant shortage of skilled health workers in Namibia, with the doctor to patient ratio at about one doctor per 7000 people.  This means that the majority of the population do not receive the standard of healthcare that most of us are used to, if they receive any at all.  Most people will not visit the hospital unless they are seriously ill; usually consulting local healers for traditional treatments if they are unwell.

Katima Mulilo hospital has most of the facilities that you would expect to find.  The private doctors, working at clinics in the town, are predominantly expatriate doctors from South Africa who act as general practitioners, consulting on a variety of medical cases.  In contrast the small, rural medical clinics, which are located at various sites throughout the Caprivi region, are usually staffed by a single doctor and have limited capabilities.  Serious cases need to be referred to Katima Mulilo hospital, which is a very long journey for many people.

The above background provides an idea of why your help, as a medical volunteer in Namibia, can be of value.  Your time at the project will be split between Katima Mulilo Regional Hospital, centres for diasbled or vulnerable children, or local medical clinics, depending upon your experience, interests and project needs at the time.

Highlights