Namibia: President Highlights the Importance of Local Manufacturers

The Namibian public and the local pharmaceutical fraternity should be encouraged by president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah's recent visit to Fabupharm amid the ongoing shortage of medicines in public hospitals and clinics.

The shortage of essential medicines has become a serious and dangerous concern in recent years, affecting many patients who depend on reliable access to treatment.

It was therefore timely and encouraging to see the head of state personally visit Namibia's only local pharmaceutical manufacturer to better understand its capabilities and contribution to national healthcare.

For far too long, Namibia's pharmaceutical procurement system has focused heavily on sourcing medicines from abroad, while insufficient attention has been given to strengthening local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity.

The president's visit to Fabupharm signals recognition that Namibia must seriously consider local solutions to local problems, particularly when medicine shortages affect hospitals and clinics across the country.

Fabupharm is our only locally owned and operated pharmaceutical manufacturer, and also one of the country's most important pharmaceutical training partners.

It employs more than 70 Namibians, pays taxes locally, manufactures and supplies more than 150 pharmaceutical and healthcare products, and contributes directly to Namibia's healthcare security and economic development.

Equally important, Fabupharm has, for more than 13 years, provided free industrial pharmaceutical training to University of Namibia pharmacy students and pharmacist assistants.

Every year, approximately 20 third-year BPharm (Hons) - almost of half of the class - and pharmacist assistant students (until the programme ended in 2024) spend two weeks receiving intensive experiential training at the facility.

These placements form a critical part of industrial pharmacy education that universities cannot fully replicate in classroom environments.

Students work alongside professional staff on real pharmaceutical production lines and gain firsthand experience in: receipt and quarantine of raw materials, quality control testing, quality management systems, hygiene and safety procedures, line clearance,

batch manufacture, in-process quality control testing, tablet, syrup, suspension and capsule production, packaging operations, finishing pharmaceutical product warehousing, batch release, and pharmaceutical distribution systems.

This type of experiential learning is essential in producing competent industrial pharmacists and pharmaceutical professionals.

Many pharmacy schools