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The acting deputy executive director of the Ministry of Health, Axel Tibinyane, called for local value addition to be prioritised in the procurement process to retain the country’s currency, skills and jobs.
Tibinyane made the remarks at a ceremony in Windhoek on Tuesday to hand over medical equipment worth N$500,000 from Namibia Medical Engineering to the Namibian Ministry of Health. He stressed the importance of supporting local businesses and giving them preferential treatment in the market to strengthen the Namibian economy.
“When we import goods, including medical equipment and pharmaceutical services, we are increasing the production capacity of the countries we buy from. Therefore, addressing this issue is critical to creating more jobs locally,” he said.
“As a government, we must put in place systems to support local businesses and ensure that we do not export raw materials or semi-finished products as well as currency and jobs. We should keep these resources within the country to grow our economy,” Tibinyane urged.
A vital investment
The equipment donated to the Ministry of Health includes hospital beds, examination beds, delivery beds, bedside tables, patient stretchers, bed screens, emergency trolleys, gas cylinder stands, bed mattresses, IV stands and X-ray boxes, all from local
Tibinyane accepted the equipment on behalf of the Executive Director, Ben Nangobe, and expressed the Ministry’s gratitude for the philanthropic gesture.
“This is not just a donation, it is an investment in Namibia’s healthcare system. The returns for Namibian Medical Engineering will be realized by doing business with healthier employees, healthier business partners – thereby ensuring a sustainable, healthier business,” Tibinyane said.
He further advised them not to be discouraged by the challenges that often come with the early stages of innovation as their efforts are crucial to the future of Namibia’s healthcare system.
keep it up
Ndati Shipanga, operations director of Namibia Medical Engineering Company, said the company is currently building a medical incinerator to treat medical waste, which will be the first domestically produced medical waste incinerator. “We started construction in mid-June this year and are now 80% complete. We are only waiting to install accessories such as the burner and control box. We will put it into use on July 20. We are also applying for intellectual property certification for it,” he said.
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