Health councils inaugurated

Following several delays, the health councils are finally operational.
Yanna Smith
Justicia Shipena

The inauguration of the Health Professionals Councils took place last week Thursday at the Roof of Africa in Windhoek.

The members took oath before health minister Dr Bernard Haufiku.

The councils are as follows:

1. The Medical and Dental Council

2. Nursing Council

3. Pharmacy Council

4. Allied Health Professions Council of Namibia

Speaking at the ceremony Haufiku said that before 2015 the health professions bill was already in discussion along with the mental health and food safety bills. None of these bills were tabled yet.

These delays caused a vacuum and Haufiku said the law-making process in Namibia is cumbersome.

Haufiku added that for the last two months there was effectively no council and thus time should not be wasted in addressing these issues.

“We are sitting with hundreds of recently qualified doctors at the level of specialisation who up to now are not registered practitioners because of delays caused by the new bill,” he said.

Haufiku also thanked members of the councils for agreeing to serve fellow professionals and the public and urged them to them to work together to ensure that both the public and medical profession in Namibia is effectively protected in a sustained manner.