China-donated hospital worth 6 mln USD to open in Namibia

A China-donated hospital worth six million U.S. dollars is expected to be operational by April in northern Namibia, a Namibian official has said.

The 64-bed Omuthiya District Hospital in Oshikoto region, whose construction started in 2009, was supposed to have been handed over to the government of Namibia in 2012. This did not happen after the Namibia Standards Association delayed certifying the building.

Peter Angala, Oshikoto regional health director, said only the mortuary, the out-patients, casualty and administration departments are fully operational. These department, he said, make up 85 percent of the work that should be done, adding the rest will be completed in course of the year.

He also said they were waiting for Chinese translators to help since some of the donated equipment has instructions in Chinese.

"The Chinese will be sending people to translate into English in due course. We are working tirelessly to make sure the hospital is fully completed as we want to put an end to patients going all the way to Onandjokwe for treatment," he said.

At the moment, Angala said the hospital only caters for emergency cases and observations.

There are four medical doctors, 22 enrolled nurses and 18 registered nurses at the hospital.

According to the 2011 census, Oshikoto region has a total of 181,600 people.