Windhoek: Minister of Health and Social Services (MoHSS), Esperance Luvindao, has underscored the importance of health literacy among healthcare workers and the public. She made these remarks during a Cabinet Committee briefing held in Windhoek on Thursday.
According to Namibia Press Agency, Luvindao highlighted that one of the greatest challenges faced by the ministry is the promotion of health literacy. “When it comes to healthcare, we are not expecting that every Namibian knows everything or is at the level of a nurse or doctor. However, we are hoping that we can promote an approach to ensure that we are all able to pick up abnormalities,” Luvindao said.
She also emphasized that language barriers between healthcare workers and patients should not prevent individuals from receiving the medical care they need. “Training healthcare professionals to communicate effectively with patients and to provide them with the information they need in order to make informed decisions is key. Our healthcare workers, incl
uding doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and assistants within the hospital, must ensure that as soon as a patient leaves the hospital, they have the necessary information,” she stated.
Luvindao further noted that the ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, is working towards incorporating health literacy in schools and workplaces. “Promoting health literacy in schools and workplaces is very important. We are working very hard together with our stakeholders to ensure that we are able in the future to integrate health literacy into our curriculum. Promoting health literacy is important as it combats the spread of misinformation,” Luvindao explained.