Egypt and Namibia discuss medical personnel exchange programme

Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar held talks with his Namibian counterpart Kalumbi Shangula, as reported by Daily News Egypt, a partner of TV BRICS. The two sides discussed opportunities for co-operation and knowledge sharing between the two countries.

The Egyptian minister highlighted several key areas of co-operation. These included sharing Egypt's experience in managing public health initiatives, localising pharmaceutical production and speeding up drug registration processes.

During the meeting, the officials discussed the possibility of formalising existing and future memoranda of understanding. They explored the idea of exchanging medical personnel, which could compensate for the shortage of dentists, pharmacists and nurses in Namibia.

Minister Abdel Ghaffar emphasised Namibia's interest in learning from Egypt's integrated health insurance system, pandemic management, crisis response and disaster preparedness. He guided the rapid development of a memorandum of understanding that would facilitate post-graduate training for medical personnel. The plan includes the possibility of placing Namibian health workers in Egyptian hospitals, universities and research institutes in various specialities.

Egypt invited Namibia to participate in the “Egyptian One Health Strategy,” a joint endeavour with the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture.