Celia Sofia Stephanus
December 2019, Covid-19 became something for the world to worry about. It was no longer something that was just happening in Asia. Our globally connected world meant the virus is mobile and travelled just as its hosts did across the world.
As we all know now to our costs, the virus spread quickly and indiscriminately, crippling nations like Italy, Spain and slowly the rest of Europe. In Namibia, we watched and assumed we were being spared the worst – and for a while, we were. However, as we look upon our situation now, we realise that not only have we not been spared; we are being severely tested – and our infrastructure and our steadfastness as Namibians are creaking and close to buckling under the pressure of this onslaught.
We will, however, not break, but it will require a supreme effort from us all and will demand a collective front against this pandemic. This virus does not allow us to leave anyone behind!
As a registered nurse and someone who has in the past administered vaccines, I have personally seen how necessary basic healthcare is; how we need to be prepared for the unexpected. A virus does not announce and see if it is convenient to wreak havoc on a nation’s healthcare system.
As Namibians, we often look at Europe and the US with admiration and assume their healthcare system can manage anything. However, it quickly became apparent in 2020 that this was not the case. Countries with unrestrained access to clean water, with almost zero hunger, a well-educated populace, with good infrastructure and access to excellent healthcare, were all buckling and creaking under the pressure that Covid-19 brought to bear. Just as we are now during the ‘third wave’ that we are experiencing in Namibia.
Western nations quickly regrouped and pitched funds at the problem; resources were freed up within a matter of days and weeks. They increased hospital capacity, bought vaccines, spent money on research for the vaccines and were able to rely on or upgrade their infrastructure to manage the pandemic.
This is what we should be doing globally – but as we know, there has always been a divide.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was borne out of this necessity to create a fairer and more equitable world for all nations.
Something that in times of crisis shows us all how unequal things are and why the implementation of the SDGs is so vital. It is also one of the drivers of Namibia’s National Planning Commission and part of its remit is to sensitise our nation to these goals.
The 17 different SDGs are all interlinked in one way or another – and all are in place to contribute to a healthy, peaceful and just society that fulfils the needs of its citizens. For example, if you look at the 6th SDG, “Access to clean water and sanitation”, it is imperative to have access to the latter to beat Covid-19.
But so are the other SDGs dealing with providing industry, innovation and infrastructure as well as zero hunger and good health and wellbeing.
For the purpose of this opinion, SDG 10 may be the most important of all: reduce inequalities. This is what it boils down to. As per the goals of Vision 2030, Namibia stands ready to improve the quality of life of her citizens to the levels of her counterparts in developed countries – that is prosperous and industrialised, and which have human capacities and the financial resources available to scale up when needed to enjoy sustained peace, harmony and political stability.
We need to focus on bridging the ‘healthcare divide’ everywhere – not just in Namibia but across the globe.
As we have seen in this hyper-connected world, no country or its population lives under a protective force field – safe from Covid-19 or future pandemics.
Without making the world more equitable for everyone by implementing the UN’s SDGs, we will be resigned to relive this present pandemic time again in the future.
* Celia Sofia Stephanus is Senior Technical Advisor of the SDG-I Namibia Project c/o National Planning Commission