CCN New Start to close down

As the health ministry introduces new strategies such as the door-to-door HIV testing approach, it has instructed that the New Start centre at the Council of Churches of Namibia (CNN) in Windhoek to be closed.
Pamela McQuide, the chief of party at IntraHealth Namibia, confirmed that the New Start centre on the premises of the CCN will be closed by the end of this month.
According to McQuide, the services rendered by the New Start centres will eventually be moved to the health ministry, where patients can have easy access to health services and treatment.
“The approach to dealing with HIV and Aids in the last couple of years has changed. This was basically the rationale of this decision,” she said.
McQuide added that most of the staff at the CCN New Start centre has already taken up jobs with IntraHealth and other agencies.
Namibian Sun understands that the only other New Start centre remaining in the country based at Oshikango is also expected to close its doors soon.
A number of New Start centres closed shop in 2009 as a result of declining donor funding.
One of the approaches adopted by the health minister to deal with this crisis was to introduce rapid testing at health facilities.
The ministry of health also confirmed the closure of the New Start centres, but declined to comment on whether it has sufficient capacity to tackle the new approach.
According to the ministry’s spokesperson sister Libita Manga, the CCN centre will close on Monday, 26 September.
She explained that the closure will not affect the government’s initiatives because HIV testing services are now widely available at all public health facilities and through other community-based testing programmes.
Manga also added that HIV testing services will continue to be offered at public health facilities and for the community through various other testing centres such as Namibia Planned Parenthood Association (NAPPA) clinics, home-based testing and workplace testing, amongst others.
“The Ministry of Health and Social Services in partnership with Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE) programme provide home-based testing services in seven regions with a high HIV burden including Khomas Region. In the Khomas Region especially in Windhoek, home-based testing is being done in informal settlements,” she said.
According to her, home based testing services are also provided by Catholic AIDS Action (CAA) in the Erongo Region.

Challenges
Meanwhile, IntraHealth in a recent report bemoaned Namibia’s overburdened health system that has a critical shortage of trained health workers to meet the population’s healthcare needs, especially in hard-to-reach areas.
In February this year, the ministry confirmed that it was experiencing a shortage of rapid HIV test kits. The few kits in stock have been reserved for emergency cases and pregnant women.
However, World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative to Namibia, Dr Monir Islam, said this was a global shortage and not a Namibian problem.
He also believes that Namibia has taken an evidence-based decision although there may be some challenges along the way.
“The government is taking every step to improve the capacity and understand the logistical requirements that come with this decision,” he said. He added that government’s intention is to ensure that every person who tests positive for HIV will have access to treatment and health care.