Roadside wellness clinics for the vulnerable
06 December 2016 – The Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) and the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) are in agreement to expand the current health services to isolated places across the country.
Explaining the Private-Public-Partnership, Edward Shivute, the Manager of the WBCG’s Wellness Services, said that the aim of the agreement is for the WBCG to operate as an extended facility of the MoHSS, using its mobile and static roadside wellness clinics.
“In order to reduce HIV infections and mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS in mobile populations and affected communities, we are constantly venturing toward improving the access to services for key populations such as sex workers, mobile populations – specifically long distance truck drivers and the surrounding border communities in Namibia,” Shivute said.
The Group and the health ministry have enjoyed a long-standing relationship, which has culminated in the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The agreement allows for the sharing of resources to aid in expanding the current health services to reach more locals, especially the hard to reach but vulnerable populations.
Ensuring that both the public and private sector institutions collaborate and share resources while maintaining a high quality of service, the WBCG is committed to supporting the efforts of the Ministry of Health and Social Services as part of the National Strategic Framework on HIV/AIDS response.
“The idea is to leverage private sector resources to support the WBCG Mobile and Roadside Wellness Clinics and Services whilst reducing the public hospital burden,” added Shivute.
He explained that in order to achieve this goal, transport sector companies within the Private Sector have agreed to contribute to the operational costs of the WBCG mobile and wellness clinics, as a component of the wellness programme.
Shivute said the agreement is one of the more innovative public private partnerships in the sector that is sustainably contributing towards strengthening public health interventions in the country. As the project progresses, the WBCG looks forward to expanding it further to other areas.
