Namibian Healthcare

The day of the 19th of March 2009, we were set to tour the various health options available to the people of Okahandja, in order to get a better sense of what is generally available for all of the citizens of Namibia. The plan was to go to a government run hospital, then a private clinic, and then finish up the day with a trip to the traditional healer.

When we arrived at the government hospital, it was much like what you would expect in a third world country. They had decent facilities that looked somewhat run down and poorly equipped. But despite that, they appeared to have most of what they needed to treat everyday illnesses and emergencies, and it was nice to see that the staff seemed well trained and knowledgeable. There was one thing that bothered a good number of the volunteers though, the separate/segregated HIV facilities.

There was an entirely separate pharmacy for the ARVs (Antiretroviral drugs) used to treat HIV/AIDS. I also want to say that the HIV testing and counseling offices were also apart from other offices, but I can’t remember clearly. The reason why this bothered us, in addition to the different colored healthcare passport that HIV infected people carried, was that it made it very easy to identify people with the virus. Not only is that a huge violation of privacy, but it subjects the patients to the horrible stigmatism that is associated with HIV/AIDS in many of the communities within Namibia.

Imagine a faithful wife, contracting HIV from her cheating husband. The community might not know the story of how she acquired the virus, but they will now, through the flaws in the healthcare system, know that she has it, and then they will more than likely make up some story to fit a stereotype they have associated with the virus. They might say that she is unfaithful, a prostitute, a whore, possibly that she was witched, or maybe that she is being punished by God for some horrible sin she has committed. She will then be ostracized by many ignorant people in the community that fear what they don’t understand. It is definitely a flaw that could easily be fixed.

The private clinic was a bit different. It was a nice, air-conditioned office, that reminded me much of the doctors’ offices in the States. Not much to tell, except I’ve heard the quality of healthcare provided in the private clinics is at times very poor. One lady told me that no matter what she goes in with, they just give her tablets for pain and fever. Another lady echoed the same concerns about the private clinic she was using in another town.

The traditional healer was something all its own. First we had to drive somewhat outside of the town, on a winding dirt road for a while, and we ended up close to the base of a hill and rock formations. That added to the mystery of the trip and the whole feeling of going deep into a forest to find this secluded bizarre individual who was in tune with nature and spirits (what I imagined traditional healers/witch doctors to be like). When we got there, the traditional healer turned out to be a Herero woman dressed in her traditional attire. She didn’t speak any English really, so she had one of her daughters and one of the trainers translate.

She told us of all these various traditional remedies that she had lying in front of her. We smelled and felt some of them. She then told us of some of her typical treatments and happened to have a baby there that she had just treated. She described how she had cut him (that’s right, she cut this baby) and put some herbs or powders on the lacerations to provide a quicker delivery mechanism for the “medicine”. I’m all about natural homeopathic remedies, but I’m not sure how I feel about that. It would be interesting though to scientifically research some of the traditional medicines they have developed over the past several hundreds of years.

It was fascinating to hear her talk about the craft of traditional healing being passed down from mother to daughter for generations upon generations, each refining it and making it their own. In fact her daughter is a traditional healer, or maybe more accurately a witch doctor, in a different town. She does what her mother does, but in addition, she also casts bones and contacts the spirit world to diagnose the malady affecting a person. Then if the problem calls for it, she will dance around the fire and perform a healing ritual. It was too bad we couldn’t witness some of those events… but all in due time.