Namibian delegation attends World Health Summit and meets with partners in Berlin

The objective of the visit of the Namibian delegation in autumn 2023 was to further consolidate and strengthen the partnership between the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) and the Robert Koch Institute. The five-member delegation from Namibia was led by Deputy Minister Dr Esther Muinjangue and Deputy Executive Director Petronella Masabane.

The Namibian ministry and RKI have maintained a close and trusting cooperation since the successful start of the Namibia-RKI Twinning Project (TwiNit, TwiNit 2.0) in 2020. The long-term goal of the project is the establishment of the Namibia Public Health Institute (NamPHI). The project is part of the Global Health Protection Programme (GHPP). Funding is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Health in accordance with a resolution passed by the German Bundestag.

From 15 to 17 October the delegates attended the World Health Summit in Berlin. They engaged in direct discussions with globally active representatives from politics and the healthcare sector and built new relationships that might provide valuable support for the NamPHI establishment process.

Namibian delegation at the World Health Summit 2023 in Berlin. Photo: RKI

Delegates also contributed to a high-level side meeting at the World Health Summit entitled “Strengthening National Public Health Institutes: Scopes and Struggles”, organised by the Centre for International Health protection (ZIG 1). National public health institutes (NPHIs) play a vital role in maintaining national and global public health. Many countries therefore plan to establish or strengthen such institutes supported by their peers as well as supranational organisations and networks. The panel discussed how to effectively implement the “NPHI agenda” and how this endeavor could benefit from evidence, exchange, peer-learning and coordinated cooperation. The establishment of NamPHI provided a real-life example that illustrated the challenging process of establishing an NPHI for a single country.

At an official meeting, both RKI president Prof Lars Schaade and Dr Esther Muinjangue emphasised that the connections established between the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services and RKI through the Twinning Project were just the beginning and that they looked forward to a long-standing collaboration.

Namibian delegation and representatives from the Namibian Embassy to Germany meet RKI president Prof Lars Schaade. Photo: RKI

During a visit to the RKI, the delegates exchanged views with the TwiNit 2.0 team on project activities of the six work packages. This was followed by a discussion on, among other things, the integration of these activities to strengthen the core public health functions for the future NamPHI. The delegation also visited the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) of the RKI coordinated by unit 31 and learnt about its general structure, its specific mandate in the German federal context and lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic. The delegates were very interested in the Public Health Intelligence work of ZIG 1 as they plan to establish respective methods in Namibia in the near future.

Exchange of the Namibian delegation with the RKI project team of TwiNit 2.0. Photo: RKI

ZIG 4 (unit of Public Health Laboratory Support) gave the delegation a tour of the training laboratory and briefed them on the set-up including the molecular laboratory workflows and the establishment of ready-to-deploy mobile laboratories. The delegation was informed about telemedicine from clinicians of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and took part in a virtual ward round in a South African hospital.

The delegation concluded their stay in Berlin by being welcomed at the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, where they shared their experiences of setting up NamPHI and discussed ideas for future collaboration. The visit to Berlin offered the Namibian delegation the opportunity to establish contacts and network, exchange experiences and learn more about national public health institutes such as the RKI. Moreover, the partnership between the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services and the RKI was further strengthened and the importance of working together towards establishing a NPHI in Namibia was emphasised.

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