Country Profile
Country profile – Primary healthcare and family medicine in Namibia
Felicia Christians
About the author(s)
Felicia Christians, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia
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Abstract
Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in Southern Africa. Namibia’s health services are twofold: private (serving 18% of the population with medical aid) and public (serving the remaining 82%). This, in part, is due to the country’s high income inequality. Access to healthcare is comparably good with 76% of the population living within a 10km radius of a healthcare facility. Yet, Namibia faces many challenges related to the provision of patient-centred primary health care (PHC). The provision of competent generalist doctors and family physicians has the potential to address the current health care challenges and priorities. The inclusion of family physicians in PHC teams will further aid such efforts.
Keywords
Namibia; health services; primary health care; family medicine; generalist doctors
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Crossref Citations
1. The state of family medicine training programmes within the Primary Care and Family Medicine Education network
Klaus B. von Pressentin, Innocent Besigye, Robert Mash, Zelra Malan
African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine vol: 12 issue: 1 year: 2020
doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2588