Patience Makwele
Founder of Hope Based Healthcare Namibia, Eglien Eises, has urged young Namibians looking for work not to overlook palliative care, pointing to the 40 jobs already created through her organisation’s work.
Eises said the organisation employs doctors, nurses, care providers and administrative staff to provide home-based care to people living with serious and life-limiting illnesses.
“We have one full-time and one part-time [doctor], and seven nurses consisting of two registered nurses, five enrolled nurses, and 25 care providers with other administrative staff. So, currently, proudly, we have created employment for 40 Namibians,” she said.
Her comments come as Namibia continues to face high youth unemployment.
The 2023 Namibia Labour Force Survey recorded youth unemployment at 44.4%, with more than 200,000 young people unemployed.
Eises said palliative care requires more than medical professionals, with different workers needed to support patients and their families in their homes.
Palliative care focuses on managing pain and other symptoms, improving quality of life and supporting people with serious illnesses, as well as their families and caregivers.
Eises said Hope Based Healthcare does not focus on one illness, such as cancer, but assists people with different conditions.
“In Oshikoto, we do not have these fancy palliative care centres or hospice centres. So we provide our care in the comfort of the person’s home,” she said.
Working in homes has also exposed care providers to problems that extend beyond medical treatment.
Eises said some patients are in severe pain but have no food, while families struggle to afford items such as diapers and medical consumables.
“How do you serve medication to someone that hasn’t had breakfast?” she asked.
She said many patients depend on pension grants, which may already be used to pay for electricity and municipal services, leaving little for food and other basic needs.
For Eises, the work began with caring for her own mother, who suffered three strokes in 2008 and later became increasingly dependent on her family.
She resigned from her job in 2014 to care for her mother and eventually developed Hope Based Healthcare, drawing on years of experience caring for people in different settings.
“For me it is a calling,” Eises said.
The organisation works with doctors, nurses, medical specialists, universities and the Ministry of Health and Social Services.
Eises said stronger collaboration with the ministry is needed to ensure palliative care is properly integrated into the health system.
“The Minister of Health is the custodian of our national health. So, whatever anyone does in the health space needs to align and respond, and it should go under the guidelines and the processes of the Ministry of Health,” she said.
Her comments come ahead of the Palliative Care Symposium scheduled for Friday in Windhoek, where healthcare professionals and other stakeholders are expected to discuss strengthening palliative care services in Namibia.
Eises wants the event to lead to greater awareness beyond Windhoek and reach communities across the country.
“We need to get this news out. We need to create this awareness, and it should not stop on the ninth. After the ninth, we now need to go across the 14 regions of our country,” she said.
She also urged Namibians to better understand the work being done by organisations providing care in communities.
“We need Namibia to come and learn what we are doing. We need them to understand that what we are doing is real,” Eises said.
