Ohangwena, Kunene experience critical shortages of medicine

The governors of the Ohangwena and Kunene regions have expressed concern over ongoing medicine shortages at public health facilities in their regions.

Kunene governor Vipuakuje Muharukua says the region is no exception to the ongoing medicine shortages affecting the country.

Muharukua says he was briefed by the regional health director that hospitals at Opuwo, Khorixas and other parts of the region have been running low on medication for about three months.

“I’m informed by the director that it has been three months now that the hospitals in the district of Opuwo and Khorixas, and the whole of the Kunene region, have been running low on medication,” he says.

According to him, the shortages have resulted in patients spending long periods in queues only to find that the medication they require is unavailable.

“The impact, of course, is that people would be standing in queues for a long time to get medication and then they get to the booth to get their medication, and medication is not there,” he says.

Muharukua says the shortages extend beyond medicine for common ailments.

He says there is particular concern over shortages of medication used to treat chronic illnesses.