Namibia Embassy Berlin -

WINDHOEK - The Chief of the Namibian Defence Force, Lieutenant General Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah, on Tuesday officially received a state-of-the-art mobile field hospital from the German Advisory Group.

The field hospital was built on-site at the Luiperdsvallei army base and was funded by the German defence ministry. Ndaitwah said the mobile hospital was built to cater for operational and emergency health services delivery, and is capable of providing a quick response to all military operations and disasters.

“As a result, several military health workers have been trained, namely, medical health instructors, basic support and dental assistance operators,” said Ndaitwah. The hospital can treat 40 outpatients in a day and can also admit up to 20 in-house patients. It boasts two intensive care units, an x-ray unit and laboratories. It is further equipped with a mobile oxygen concentrator, which means it can produce its own oxygen and it is a four-wheel drive all-terrain vehicle.

German Ambassador to Namibia, Onno Huckmann, remarked that the mobile hospital is another outstanding sign of the close and fruitful cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries. The German government has supplied 20 ambulances, three containers, four tents and 20 tonnes of medical equipment to the Namibia Defence Force between 2005 and 2008. “The hospital can be considered not only as the core project implemented to date, it is also unique in the Southern African region,” Huckmann said.

“It makes Namibia the only country able to contribute a fully fledged field hospital within regional or African-wide peace-keeping missions,” he added. The field hospital can also be used for humanitarian operations by the Namibian Defence Force within Namibia to assist people in need or affected by natural disasters. At the time of the handover on Tuesday, the hospital was already operational, with military personnel queuing up for treatment.