Sent from pillar to post: Chronic medicine shortages deepen suffering for patients
TUYEIMO HAUFIKU
ONDANGWA
For months, 70-year-old Namibian pensioner Caillin Basson’s mother has lived without some of the medication she needs to control her high blood pressure because state hospitals repeatedly had no stock.
Since February 2026, each week, Basson travelled back to the Windhoek Central Hospital pharmacy hoping the medicine had arrived. Each week, she left with the same answer: there was still no stock.
Basson has now written an open letter to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, warning that medicine shortages are quietly pushing vulnerable Namibians deeper into illness, debt and despair.
But Basson’s story is far from isolated.
Patients and families who spoke to Network Media Hub (NMH) this week said they are being forced to travel from one clinic or hospital to another in search of medication. From chronic medication and mental health treatment to emergency snakebite antivenom, shortages are exposing cracks in the country’s medicine supply chain- while ordinary Namibians carry the burden.
‘This is not a small matter’
In her four-page open letter dated 10 May 2026, Basson praised the ministry for visible improvements at public hospitals, including renovated wards, upgraded emergency units and improved ambulance response services.
She recounted how her late father received surgery, radiation and chemotherapy through the state healthcare system after being diagnosed with grade four gliosarcoma in 2024.
“That is something I will never forget,” she wrote. “It showed me what a functioning public health system can mean for an ordinary Namibian family.”
Yet while acknowledging the progress, Basson warned that infrastructure upgrades mean little when patients cannot access the medication they need to survive.
“Since February 2026, my mother has been unable to receive all the medication she needs because there has been no stock,” she wrote.
Basson said her mother, who suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, has since experienced migraines and worsening health.
“The absence of basic chronic medication can push stable patients into hospital beds that could have been kept free through prevention,” she warned.
A system of referrals and frustration
What frustrated Basson most was not only the medicine shortage itself, but the bureaucracy surrounding attempts to find alternatives.
When she asked whether she could buy the medication privately, Basson said she was informed that she first needed authorisation from a state doctor.
However, after approaching a doctor at Windhoek Central Hospital, she was allegedly referred elsewhere to obtain the required memorandum.
“I must ask: why should a patient who has already been without essential medication for months be sent from one facility to another simply to obtain permission to buy medicine privately?” she asked.
“This type of bureaucracy does not make sense in a crisis.”
Basson further called on the ministry to improve communication around medicine shortages and establish emergency procedures that allow patients to obtain private medication authorisation on the same day and at the same facility when state stock is unavailable.
No mental health medicine
In northern Namibia, similar frustrations are unfolding over shortages of psychiatric medication at Oshakati and Engela state hospitals, where medicines such as Haloperidol 2.5mg tablets, Akineton 2mg tablets and Thiamine Hydrochloride 30mg are unavailable.
One pensioner, who spoke to Network Media Hub (NMH) on Tuesday on condition of anonymity, described travelling across multiple towns in search of medication for her 48-year-old son, who has been on treatment since 2006.
“First I passed the clinic at Ongenga, they didn’t have medicine then I went to Engela. I came back empty-handed. On Saturday I went to Oshakati, they didn’t have,” she said.
Eventually, she borrowed N$420 from the driver transporting her to Oshakati so she could purchase the medication privately.
For her, the crisis is both emotional and financial, she said.
“This is very hurtful because even myself my high blood pressure medication runs out of hospitals and I end up getting from the pharmacies. It’s hurting us. Because we were told not to pay for medicine. Now we are paying,” she said.
She added that transport costs between distant hospitals worsen the burden on poor families.
“We don’t have a choice. They must look at it better. Because having a mental patient on medication is way more helpful than them missing their medicine. They run the risk of getting worse or relapsing,” she said.
Snakebite fears grow
The medicine shortage crisis is also affecting emergency care.
Snakebite expert Francois Theart recently warned that Namibia is facing another severe antivenom shortage after expected stock deliveries were delayed from March until June.
“The current state of antivenom supply in Namibia is absolutely unacceptable,” Theart wrote in a Facebook post.
“Hospitals and veterinary clinics across the country have been waiting for more than two months for resupply. This is not just an inconvenience; this is a serious public health issue.”
Theart criticised authorities for relying heavily on South African Vaccine Producers, which he said has repeatedly struggled to meet regional demand.
“We constantly warn the relevant stakeholders about this exact scenario,” he wrote.
“The bureaucracy, delays and red tape surrounding antivenom procurement need to be cut immediately before lives are lost because of administrative incompetence and poor planning.”
“Snakebite emergencies do not wait for paperwork. People’s lives do not pause because of supply chain failures.”
Ministry acknowledges pressure
The Ministry of Health and Social Services has acknowledged pressure on medicine stock levels at the Central Medical Stores.
Ministry spokesperson Walters Kamaya said procurement processes are conducted proactively based on consumption trends, existing stock and projected needs.
“The ministry acknowledges the pressures on stock levels at the Central Medical Stores and continues to prioritise the availability of essential medicines,” Kamaya said.
He said measures are being implemented to strengthen forecasting systems, improve stock monitoring and introduce longer-term procurement arrangements through Open International Bidding.
However, the ministry did not specify how long the mental health medication shortages have lasted or when affected hospitals can expect new stock.
Walters also confirmed that the Windhoek Central and Onandjokwe hospitals have communicated their shortages but could not provide a date of when these shortages occurred.
He said the ministry has not seen a communique from Oshakati, Engela but
Onandjokwe communicated that they do not have anesthesia.
