Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) chief executive Kapena Tjombonde says they do not have the capacity to conduct paternity tests in Namibia.
Speaking at a media engagement on Friday, she said they are still far from rendering the service to Namibians.
She said in the interim, samples for those that need the service are sent to neighbouring South Africa, which sometimes comes at a high cost.
“We are still working on localising certain services but people always ask if we do paternity tests, but we are not yet offering this currently. We are still relying on South Africa,” she said.
According to Tjombonde, Namibia currently has less than ten pathologists, therefore, they are investing in bursaries to help build capacity.
She said they are in negotiations with the University of Namibia to come up with a training course that will cover that skills gap.
“We only have about five, but not more than 10 pathologist in the country . . . Most of our pathologist are not Namibian. We are working as a country to create capacity in this regard.
“What we do is that we give bursaries and the beneficiaries will have to work for us for the same duration as the study period. If they leave, we then ask them to repay us,” she said.
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