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POVERTY, ENERGY & GENDER

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STATEMENT BY HON MR RICHARD NCHABI KAMWI, DEPUTY-MINISTER OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES Tel: (061) 203 9111 Fax: (061) 22 7607 Private Bag 13198 Windhoek

29 MAY 2002 Director of Ceremonies Hon Jesaya Nyamu - Minister of Mines and Energy Hon Marlene Mugunda - Deputy Minister of Women Affairs and Child Welfare Distinguished delegates from the SADC Region Members of the Media Ladies and Gentlemen I am very pleased to be here with you today at the opening of the Regional Seminar on Poverty, Energy and Gender. I regard occasions, like this regional seminar, as very important opportunities for researchers and practitioners in the field to learn from each other. I welcome the vast volume of research that has been undertaken to further look into cross cutting issues related to the three areas, that form the topic of this seminar. And I am convinced that during the next few days ample opportunities will arise for more in depth discussion and for the continuation of an ongoing process through which research informs policy making and programme design. Let me therefore at the outset thank the organizers for the opportunity to address you today. Directors of Ceremonies Ladies and Gentlemen It goes without saying that Poverty is one of our greatest concerns in Namibia and in the region at large. It directly affects the living standard of a very large proportion of our people. And it indirectly affects every single individual in our society. In addition, poverty impacts on the full spectrum of development initiatives that we are implementing in our respective countries and it has strong effects on virtually all types of services and programmes offered by the various sectors of our economies. In this regard, I am intrigued by your focus on Energy during this conference. Clearly, Energy is one of the important basic resources, the availability or absence of which will determine the rate of development of any country. The very nature of this resource is also such that it impacts on all spheres of national development. It is clear however, that there are certain sectors, certain geographic areas of our countries, and also certain groups within our populations, that are more heavily affected by the availability or non-availability of this precious resource. Directors of Ceremonies We in the health sector are on the one hand large consumers of energy. In fact, very many of our important programmes and services could not be effectively operated in absence of proper electricity. Just to mentioned two examples: Our Expanded Programme on Immunization is heavily dependent on refrigeration of vaccines, which have to be stored between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius at all times and have to be used within two hours of their exposure to higher temperatures. In the absence of a properly refrigerated environment for our vaccines through all stages of their transportations from the factory to the point of use somewhere in a rural district, our health workers would be faced with unusable vaccines. Our communities would consequently be subject to the possibility of epidemics of such vaccine preventable diseases like polio, measles, or tetanus. My second example illustrates our dependence on electricity in the health sector even further, and that is that all our operating equipment and instruments need energy in form of steam, which is usually produced through electricity, in order to be properly sterilized. Only through this process can we prevent the spread of certain infections through our hospitals. Director of Ceremonies Ladies and Gentlemen On the other hand, we in the health sector are affected by the burden of disease that exists in communities. This disease burden can be considerably reduced, if certain interventions and programmes can be successfully implemented at community level. Our Namibian Government therefore subscribes to the policy of primary health care. Some basic elements of primary health care include amongst others adequate information and education of our population. Only through information distribution can we impart the necessary knowledge and attitudes that will ensure the prevention of certain diseases and illnesses. And again, we are dependent on our communities to have adequate access to Energy, in order to achieve our goals in this regard. Ladies and Gentlemen We in Namibia are faced with an AIDS epidemic of huge proportions. Our latest sentinel survey implemented in 2000 confirmed a national HIV prevalence rate of almost 20% and certain regions, such as Caprivi and Khomas, had prevalence rates of 30%. It is clear that one of the huge challenges to our nation as a whole is to ensure that every sexually active person in our society will know how to prevent AIDS and will be in a position to practice safe sex. While we are in the fortunate position that a very large proportion of our people have relevant knowledge – for example during the year 2000, 88% of the population knew at least on method of HIV prevention -, bringing about actual behavior change remains a huge challenge to all of us. But what is clear is that without electricity or other energy sources, a large proportion of our population would not have obtained the necessary knowledge on how to prevent the disease. It is important to note also, that again the most vulnerable and poorest members of our society usually have least access to energy sources and therefore have a greater chance of being less informed. Director of Ceremonies Currently we are also finding that with the progression of the epidemic, the numbers of people living with AIDS and actually becoming acutely ill from the disease are increasing considerably. While our health services are able to care for the acutely ill in our hospitals, there is increasing need for the home-based care and support of people living with AIDS. Again, it is becoming clear however, that the cumulative effect of poverty, of absence of adequate energy sources in the household and having to care for and adequately nourish family members living with AIDS, is a very considerable challenge to many and particularly to the women in the affected homes. Director of Ceremonies Ladies and Gentlemen I have tried to illustrate to you, how relevant the theme of your seminar is to the sector that I come from and that I know best. I am sure that over the next few days, most other sectors will be covered by the many important research papers that will be read to you. In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you very fruitful deliberations. I also would like to thank the Southern African Regional Poverty Network for their vision and initiative in organizing this seminar, Emcon Consulting Group for making its expertise available to the project and Namibia’s Energy Information Network for ensuring that you are all here today! I thank you for your kind attention.