By: Annakleta Haikera

Health minister Kalumbi Shangula inaugurated the long-awaited Nkurenkuru Primary Health Care Clinic on Tuesday after its groundbreaking ceremony nine years ago in 2013.

The clinic will render services to the Nkurenkuru residents, including screening, monitoring and treatment of common illnesses, growth monitoring, Expanded Programs on Immunization (EPI), antenatal and postnatal care, family planning services, and Dental services.

The event also saw the official handover of an oxygen generating plant and oxygen tanks for the Nkurenkuru Infectious Diseases Isolation Unit, which the Welsh government donated through the partnership between the University of Namibia and Cardiff University.

“With this plant which can generate 275 litres per minute, can guarantee constant oxygen supply at the facility at all times. Nkurenkuru is now equipped to render better and effective services to patients who visit these health facilities,” Shangula said.

According to the health minister, the project was plagued by several delays caused by factors such as the late delivery of various items and the constrained capacity of contractors. As a result, the facility’s construction could not be completed on schedule. However, he said, after several efforts by the teams involved, construction of the clinic was completed late last year and opened its doors to the community in May this year.

The Kavango West Regional chairperson Joseph Sikongo Sivaku said the region has been in dire need of health services.

“Since the region’s establishment, this gesture of the clinic is the infrastructure constructed by the state in Nkurenkuru town, which is the only one in the Kavango West region. I believe this is the first step to many more actions to be taken to ensure that the regional health infrastructure is brought to par with the developments taking place in other regions.”

The new clinic will be staffed by two medical officers, fifteen registered nurses, 10 enrolled nurses, one pharmacist, three pharmacist assistants and support staff.

Nangura Laimi Hausiku, a resident in Nkurenkuru, told The Villager, “it used to be a struggle for everyone in Nkurenkuru when it came to going for absolute neutrophil count (ANC) visits during pregnancy. Also, taking to our children to the clinic for immunisation vaccinations, we are truly thankful, and we appreciate the gesture done by the ministry. Now we don’t have to stand in long lines to be attended to, especially when you visit the clinic.”