Nepal Scale up Chlorhexidine as Part of Essential Newborn Care: Country Experience

Abstract

Chlorhexidine is a broad-spectrum antiseptic, effective on gram positive and gram negative bacteria as well as some viruses, having strong skin binding effect. Randomized controlled trials conducted in South Asian countries have proven that the use of chlorhexidine (4% weight/weight) for cord care can reduce neonatal mortality and prevent severe cord infections. Between 2011 and 2017, Nepal completed nationwide scale-up of the use of chlorhexidine by integrating with ongoing maternal and neonatal health programs, under the leadership of the Child Health Division. The chlorhexidine coverage and compliance study (2017) has revealed that the country has achieved 59% coverage of the intervention to date, with lowest use among home births. The strategy should be further strengthened to ensure that every newborn in need is reached with chlorhexidine. Keywords: Chlorhexidine; cord care; Nepal experience, Newborn.

Learning from success: the main drivers of the maternal and newborn health transition in seven positive-outlier countries and implications for future policies and programmes

“…A comparison of chlorhexidine coverage illustrates how place-of-birth affects intervention coverage at the population level. Bangladesh31 and Nepal32 implemented chlorhexidine for cord-care for both home and institutional births. Both countries achieved 33% coverage within homes, and 77% and 69% within health facilities for Bangladesh and Nepal respectively.…”