Skip to content
News release

Many Namibians go without medical care, lament government’s performance on improving services, Afrobarometer study reveals

26 Aug 2024 Namibia
Download (English)
News release
Key findings
  • Seven in 10 Namibians (69%) say they went without medical care at least once during the past year, including 20% who report lacking medical attention “many times” or “always” (Figure 1).
  • Three-fifths (60%) of respondents report having had contact with a public clinic or hospital during the previous year (Figure 2).
  • Among respondents who had contact with a public health care facility, majorities say they encountered long waiting times (91%), a lack of medicines or supplies (84%), an absence of medical personnel (80%), and/or poor facilities (79%) (Figure 3). o Half (50%) say high costs prevented them from receiving the requisite medical care.
  • About six in 10 Namibians (59%) rate the government as doing “fairly badly” or “very badly” at improving basic health care services (Figure 4).
  • But fully two-thirds (66%) say they trust the Ministry of Health and Social Services “somewhat” (35%) or “a lot” (31%) (Figure 5).

More than two-thirds of Namibians say they went without medical care at least once during  the past year, according to a new Afrobarometer survey. 

Among six in 10 citizens who had contact with a public clinic or hospital over the past year,  majorities report encountering poor facilities, absence of personnel, lack of medicines or  supplies, and/or long waiting times. About half say they couldn’t afford the medical care  they needed. 

While a majority rate the government poorly on improving basic health care services, survey  findings show that two-thirds of respondents trust the Ministry of Health and Social Services.