Health support at your doorstep
Community members of Windhoek's informal areas have commended the Mister Sister mobile primary health care clinics for bringing health services to their doorsteps.The services, which are provided twice a month, include immunisations, dressings, family planning and health education.
Established in 2012 in partnership with the ministry of health and social services, Mister Sister provides health services to remote areas in the informal settlements, rural communities and vulnerable people in the Khomas region.
Hilia Shatiwa, a resident in the Havana informal settlement, said she no longer has to travel long distances or spend money on transport to reach the nearest health clinic as the clinic is brought to her doorstep in the form of Mister Sister. She expressed that unlike the conventional clinics where the queues are long, those at the mobile clinics are much shorter.
“Sometimes at those clinics you might not get treated due to the long queues, but here at the mobile clinic, that hardly happens,” Shatiwa said.
Another Havana resident, Foibe Ndume who also visited the mobile clinic, said they receive text messages notifying them that the clinic is in their area.
“The nurses record our contact details when people visit the mobile clinic and that is how they contact us and we pass on the information to others.”
On her part, the operating director at Omnicare Trust, which manages the mobile clinics, Frida Muteka, said the ministry approached them in 2012 to assist in the provision of health care services in and around Windhoek to expand access to primary health services.
She said the trust now provides quality primary health services to nine sites, which are similar to that at state facilities, in line with the ministry's guidelines.
There are five nurses who attend to patients who only pay N$5 for consultations, she said, adding that all other services that are free at state facilities are also provided for free.
Omnicare Trust, a non-profit organisation, is funded by Namibia Medical Care (NMC) and B2Gold Mine. – Nampa