The health system in Nepal—An introduction

Abstract

We present here a study on the health system in Nepal. Approximately two-thirds of the health problems in Nepal are infectious diseases. Epidemics occur frequently with a high rate of morbidity and mortality and there are occasional outbreaks of infectious diseases of unknown etiology. In addition, the rapid rate of HIV infection in the Indian sub-continent is likely to add a new dimension of opportunistic infections. Until now, the Health System introduced as the General Health Plan in 1956 has been expanded by focusing on primary health care, and a comprehensive network-like Health System has been developed; the most basic unit is a Sub-Health Post or Health Post in each Village Development Committee area. However, the expansion of the Health System has not been matched by an expansion in the domestive resources, workers and supplies, and the available resources are not efficiently distributed. In addition, insufficient resources available for preventive and promotive medicine and the occurrence of non-infectious diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases has been increasing. The Government recently introduced a Health Policy encouraging the private sector to invest in the production of health workers and in providing quality health services. As a result, several private health institutions have been founded and are expected to contribute to the development of the human resources required by Nepal.

Assessment of graduate public health education in Nepal and perceived needs of faculty and students

“…Nepal has an extensive and rationally designed government-run system that integrates community-based primary health care with hospital and specialty care throughout the country [10]. This system, which is responsible for the conduct of preventive and categorical public health programs, such as family planning, immunizations, and nutritional programs, relies heavily on female community health volunteers (FCHVs) and other para-professional workers to provide healthcare delivery to the rural population.…”

Characterization of microbial communities distributed in the groundwater pumped from deep tube wells in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal

“…Opportunistic microbes cause a wide variefy of infections such as endocarditis, meningitis, pneumonia, osteomyelitis and septicemia in critically ill and immunecompromised patients. In Nepal, about 70% of all health problems and deaths are attributed to infectious diseases including meningitis, a typical symptom of opportunistic infection (Rai et al 2001(Rai et al , 2002. Moreover, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has spread rapidly in Nepal (Pais 1996;Rodrigo & Rajapakse 2009).…”

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Usage across Nations (June 2014)

“…The public sector is what the majority of the population including the lower class uses. The private sector, on the other hand, includes private hospitals, which is what the upper class and higher caste system primarily use for health care [3].…”

“…Her skin was intact. Initial laboratory tests were done and the findings are as follows: WBC count, 5500 cells/mm³; Hgb, 7.7g/dL; Hct, 23%; RBC count, 3.7 x 10 6 /uL; platelet count, 675,000/uL; mean MCV, 55um 3 . Her chemistry panel findings were: creatinine, 1.0 mg/dL; bilirubin, 0.9 umol/dL; BUN, 16 mg/dL; glucose, 124 mg/dL; sodium, 130 mEq/L; potsassium, 3.7 mEq/L; magnesium, 2.0 mEq/L; and calcium, 9.4 mg/dL [36].…”