Namibia

Namibia, known as Southwest Africa from the time of the German colonial presence until 1990, has a population of 2.089 million (2008 Census), and a female life expectancy of 42.29 years. It has a birth rate of 24.32 per 1,000, with the country's population rising by 0.6 percent annually.

In 2006, only 29.6 percent of Namibian women aged 15 and older, and only 15 percent of women aged 15–24, were employed (the comparable numbers for men are 46.1 percent and 20.7 percent, respectively). Women are entitled to four weeks maternity before birth and eight weeks afterward if she has been working for 12 continuous months, and women's employment rights (promotion, seniority, etc.) are protected during that time. In 2000, 42.6 percent of Namibian women aged 15–49 reported using modern methods of contraception. Abortion is legal only on the grounds of fetal impairment, rape, or incest, and to preserve the mother's life or physical or mental health. It is believed that many women travel to South Africa so seek abortions or have them done illegally because thousand of women are treated annually for complications of abortion.

The country was run by the Germans until World War I, and was then under South African control. During most of this time, the vast majority of the health care expenditure was focused on the European population, with the African population relying on traditional remedies and cures.

For childbirth and mothering, the San (bush-men), and the Bantu both operated from villages, where societal organization was based on tribes and clans, with village elders and members of the extended families helping mothers. Many of their health problems came from poor nutrition, the lack of clean water, bad sanitary conditions (which still affects much of the population), and a number of diseases. For the Europeans, the settlers also had extended families, whereas there were also people from South Africa, Britain, Germany, and elsewhere who lived and worked in the country for a short period of time.

With independence, there was an effort by the new government to improve the health care of the population, and there are now 33 district hospitals, 12 private hospitals, 37 health centers, and 244 public clinics, most of which offer extensive midwifery services. The mean age of marriage in the country is 26.4, and as a result it has been estimated that 60 percent of women's first children are born before marriage, and 43 percent of all births occur before marriage. The infant mortality [Page 888]rate is now 48.1 per 1,000 live births. For children between the age of 1 and 5, the mortality rate is 62 deaths per 1,000, and the maternal mortality rate is 300 deaths per 100,000 live births. Part of this is because some village communities suffer from food shortages at certain periods of the year, and some observers claim that more than a fifth of Namibian children show signs of stunted growth because of poor nutrition.

However, as well as lack of food, many deaths in the country come from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), with related conditions accounting for some 21.3 percent of all deaths in the country; since 1996, it has been the leading cause of death for Namibians. Most of the HIV/AIDS-related deaths are from heterosexual contact, and also mother-to-child transmission, which has created large numbers of orphaned children. Among the Himba tribe in Namibia, sharing of wives is socially acceptable, as is polygamy; older men often acquire several young brides to assist with raising his cattle. Because the wives may live in distant cattle stations, they often have several boyfriends; these practices also encourage the spread of HIV.

...