From The Namibian

Namibia has recruited 21 pharmacists from Ethiopia to address the current shortage in the Ministry of Health and Social Services. The Minister of Health and Social Services Richard Kamwi made the announcement at a press briefing in Windhoek yesterday, where he said the country needs about 1,000 pharmacists in the private and public sectors.

Kamwi said, currently, there are only 55 pharmacists in the public health sector and of these, only 10 are Namibians.

“As you are all aware, the Ministry of Health and Social Services is faced with a number of challenges, one of them being shortage of personnel. This hampers the delivery of quality health services particularly to rural and remote areas, which solely rely on public health services,” he said.

Kamwi said for optimum pharmaceutical services, the World Health Organisation recommends the pharmacist to population ratio of one for every 2 000 people.

“Therefore, with our population of two million, we need about 1 000 pharmacists in both the public and private sectors to reach that ratio,” he said.

Kamwi emphasised that the current statistics imply that the country only has 18% of the required number, which falls far too short of the requirements. Applauding the Ethiopians, Kamwi said they are an addition to other pharmacists contracted from other countries. He further urged them to demonstrate their skills to their best ability.

“However, for a lasting solution, we are currently working with the University of Namibia School of Pharmacy to train Namibian pharmacists locally,” Kamwi said, adding that the first intake is currently in third year.

Read more at The Namibian