Namibia PDNA 2009 - GFDRR

Disaster Risk Management Issues
Strategies to overcome disaster risks in
the affected Regions:
Needs
• Strengthen the capacity of health professionals in
Epidemic Preparedness and Response including
management of diseases of Epidemic potential
and development of Epidemic Response Plans.
• Strengthen capacity of communities through
recruitment and training of community health
workers in life saving skills, such as provision of
first aid to reduce the effects of injuries and
drowning in the community during the crisis.
• Strengthen integrated disease surveillance and
response by training the health workers in
collection, investigation, analysis and reporting
and also introducing community based disease
surveillance.;
• Strengthen nutrition surveillance system through
setting up sentinel surveillance site.
• Enhance the knowledge of health staff on
prevention and treatment of malnutrition.
• Ensure that safe water supply is provided to
all health facilities by testing the submerged
boreholes supplying the clinics that were flooded
and also collaborating with Namwater and rural
water supply for provision of safe water to health
facilities without water;
• Strengthen the transport and communication
networks by providing ambulances to health
centres and boats (especially in Caprivi)
and provision of telephones to the health
facilities; strengthen information, education and
communication on early warning signs, disease
prevention and health promotion.
• Provision of power in terms of solar energy
to improve deliveries that occur at night in the
health facilities without any source of power.
Recovery expectations:
The expectations for recovery include the provision of a safe
water supply to health facilities that were flooded, such as
Mabushe, Lisikili, Schuckmansburg clinics.
In addition, a nutritional survey to assess the nutritional status of
children and women in affected regions should be conducted.
The survey will provide the prevalence of malnutrition in
children which will assist in designing appropriate nutrition
intervention in the affected areas.
Finally, there is a need to provide tents and screens for carrying
out outreach health services for purposes of confidentiality
and privacy at outreach service points most especially in camp
situation.
Expectations – capacities gap
• Need for capacity building to ensure that
services are not disrupted. Need for telephone
communications for health facilities such as
Biro Clinic (Kavango Region), Schuckmansburg,
Impalila, Kabbe, Isize, Mbalasinte Clinics (Caprivi
Region) and Onakazizi, clinic (Oshikoto Region)
to mention a few.
• Where facilities are cut off, expand outreach
services and ensure that there is communication
(budget should be put aside for additional
outreach services, fuel, as well as communication).
• Purchase of two motor boats for accessing cut off
clinics in Caprivi Region to work as ambulances
and to transport medical supplies and equipment
to the health facilities
• Provision of means of transport to health centres
especially those of Caprivi to quicken the process
of referral and saving life to serve health centres
and clinics that are attached to the health centres
and to be used for outreach services
• Need to have a community link with the health
facilities; identify, train and support the community
health care workers. Link their reporting to
the health facilities including community-based
disease surveillance
• Train health workers at Regional and district
levels in EPR and development of response plans
and later cascade the training to lower levels
• Build capacity of Health Information System and
health facility in-charges in data collection, analysis,
reporting and interpretation and cascade the
training to community health workers
• Introduce acute psychiatric In-patient care
services in Rundu Intermediate Hospital.
• Upgrade one of the clinics in Kabbe Constituency
to be a modern health centre that can handle
most of the referral cases to solve the problem
of flood barrier for referrals and post a doctor
there.
Policy implications:
Upgrading or construction of the modern health facility or
setting up an acute psychiatric in-patient unit will require
policy to address the issue.
The activities from the recovery needs will be facilitated by:
agreeing on an implementation plan and sharing information
between delivery agencies and MoHSS, who will supervise on
going activities with the purposes of ensuring that they are
moving according to plan and agreed standards.
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