More ICU beds for state hospitals courtesy of US Govt
Eight government hospitals will each get an allocation from the 70 Intensive Care beds which arrived recently as a gift from the US Government. The total donation approaches three quarters of a million Namibia dollar.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services said the beds will be distributed to state hospitals in Katutura, Rundu, Oshakati, and Onandjokwe, and to intermediate hospitals in Gobabis, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, and Katima Mulilo.
During the third COVID-19 wave, many health facilities did not have enough beds to meet the need, particularly ICU beds where facilities were often overwhelmed by the number of critically ill patients.
The beds were procured by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the EQUIP Project managed by the South African non-profit organization “Right to Care”.
“These state-of-the-art ICU beds will help improve Namibia’s COVID-19 and non-COVID clinical case management,” said USAID Country Representative, McDonald Homer, at the handover ceremony on Wednesday, 20 October in Windhoek.
The US Government will also ship an additional 200 emergency field beds from the United States to Namibia which Namibian Ambassador to the United States, Margaret Mensah-Williams sourced through the NGO, ‘Project C.U.R.E.’ based in Denver, Colorado.
“USAID has worked with ‘Project C.U.R.E.’ on numerous other projects in the past, and the US Government is excited to facilitate the transportation of these additional beds to respond quickly to possible future surges in COVID-19 cases,” the US Embassy in Windhoek said in a statement.
The Country Representative of USAID called on all Namibians to get vaccinated: “Getting the population vaccinated is key to curbing COVID-19 which has already cost so many lives. Vaccines reduce the risk of serious illness, hospitalization, and death,” said Homer.
