Ohangwena battles HIV

A total of 53 267 people were tested for HIV in the Ohangwena Region during 2017/18, with 2 146 testing positive.This brought the total number of people on antiretroviral treatment (ART) in the region to 24 796.This was announced by regional council chairperson Erickson Ndawanifa, who delivered the State of the Region Address (SORA) on behalf of governor Usko Nghaamwa yesterday.Ndawanifa announced Nghaamwa is not in good health and had delegated the task to him to present the SORA.Nghaamwa said the region is set to implement targeted interventions to deal with the challenges of poverty and disease, as well as inadequate access to clean water, sanitation and electricity, teenage pregnancies, gender-based violence and the long distances pupils have to walk to schools. During the 2017/18 financial year, the region introduced developmental social welfare services and community education on the prevention of social ills.Nghaamwa said the programme stopped 86 people from attempting suicide, while 56 suicide cases were recorded, which would have been higher if these interventions were not implemented.“The region continues to conduct an HIV counselling and testing programme at all health facilities. A smart generation campaign was conducted to raise awareness on HIV infections, prevention, treatment, care and support. These types of campaigns target men and young people, adolescent girls and young women,” Nghaamwa said.“I am disturbed by the increase of malaria cases in the region. The region declared a malaria outbreak in 2017, which 5 440 confirmed cases, with nine deaths. Despite these challenges, efforts in collaboration with various stakeholders, such as mass health education, screening, follow-up contacts, mass malaria spraying and advanced awareness campaigns were conducted to curb malaria,” he saidHe said according to the national TB report for 2017/18, Ohangwena was the second after the Khomas Region, with 1 107 TB infections.He said Engela District Hospital recorded more cases due to patients from neighbouring Angola seeking treatment. “A lot has been done to improve environmental structures of some health facilities and to improve ventilation by way of the installation of fans and the construction of outside shelters with sitting benches to minimise overcrowding inside the health facilities, so that it helps to reduce the chances of TB transmission,” the governor said.“The initiation of direct observation treatment (DOT) points in prefabricated containers and the implementation of several programmes also helped to reduce TB infection transmissions.“At least most of the TB patients were tested for HIV and the HIV prevalence has slightly decreased from 34% in 2016/17 to 33% during the reporting period. All positive cases were put on ARVs. Only two cases of leprosy were reported in the region, which is a reduction compared to previous years,” Nghaamwa said.He also reported that the family health division that coordinates primary healthcare services has been busy conducting outreach services. He said the coverage increased from 90% in 2016/17 to 98% in 2017/18. He said although 34 primary healthcare facilities are run by registered nurses, the region is faced with a shortage of health personnel. Moreover, the region has 95 community health workers, who graduated last year but are still not recruited, which widens the gap between health facilities and home-based care services. Teenage pregnancy is still high in the region, at 16%.Nghaamwa said an upward trend had been noticed in voluntary male medical circumcision, from 3 534 in 2016/17 to 4 746 for the period under review. He said 538 people who were assisted with wheelchairs and assistive devices, such as walking sticks and frames, through rehabilitation services and the surgical cataract campaign restored the eyesight of 300 patients.ILENI NANDJATO

Ohangwena battles HIV

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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Ohangwena battles HIV

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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