Facilitators and barriers to effective primary healthcare and family medicine in Namibia

Abstract

During independence in 1990, Namibia inherited a healthcare system that was deeply rooted in racial segregation and heavily centred on curative rather than preventive care. The delivery model was structured in two tiers: public healthcare under the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) and private healthcare. Since the global recognition of primary health care (PHC) at the Alma-Ata conference in 1978, PHC has served as the foundation and the cornerstone of the global strategy for achieving ‘Health for All’. The MoHSS adopted this model at independence and has since relied on it to guide major health sector reforms. One of the government’s key objectives has been to correct historical imbalances by reallocating resources towards underserved regions. This has involved shifting the focus from hospital-based curative care to more preventive and community-based services delivered through local clinics, mobile health teams and community health volunteers.