Namibia Institute of Pathology fuels biomedical research through fundraising breakfast

The Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) hosted a fundraising breakfast in Windhoek on Friday to support biomedical research, highlighting its role in advancing healthcare and addressing local health challenges.

The event was hosted under the theme ‘Funding Biomedical Research: Shaping the Future’, and was attended by various stakeholders, along with key sponsors.

This included the Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC), Ongwediva MediPark, the Momentum Metropolitan Empowerment Fund, as well as the Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund.

NIP chief executive Kapena Tjombonde said the purpose of the event was to bolster biomedical research to advance healthcare in Namibia.

NIP senior research officer Dr Caramia Dunaiski said the institute has a range of projects and initiatives it is working on.

“We have surveillance studies, point-of-care studies, as well as influencer care studies. A lot of these studies are in collaboration with national and international partners. These include the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, the University of Namibia, and the Namibia University of Science and Technology,” she said.

She touched on research on the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer, that showed few people are aware of the virus and that vaccines aginst it exist.

Dunaiski focused on the importance of funding biomedical research in Namibia as a way to develop treatment and addressing local health challenges, such as the prevalence of HPV and other diseases.

“The importance of providing funding for biomedical research is to fill knowledge gaps and to provide evidence-based information for decision-making.

“It is important to fund research, to enable laboratories, scientists, academics, throughout the country, to equip labs, to build labs, to upscale scientists and to promote healthcare in general in the country,” she said.

National Commission on Research, Science and Technology chief executive Anicia Peters said vaccine manufacturing is not a widely discussed topic in Namibia.

“How prepared are we for the next pandemic? Will we sit again like we were sitting during Covid?” she asked.

She mentioned the contribution of the NIP research trust to improving healthcare in the country.

“The NIP research fund is also responsible for overseeing their research arm, as well as facilitating funding for that,” she said.

Peters said all partners should work together to shape the future through research, innovation and collaboration.