This year’s theme for #WHD2019 is ‘Universal Health Coverage’ with key focus on essential health services to the needy across the globe.

In its official statement on the 2019 World Health Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) pitched on the need for strengthening basic health infrastructure and boost up investment in stronger health systems, globally.

“Today, half the world’s population cannot access essential health services. Millions of women give birth without help from a skilled attendant; millions of children miss out on vaccinations against killer diseases, and millions suffer and die because they can’t get treatment for HIV, TB, and malaria. In 2019, this is simply unacceptable,” WHO said in a statement.

The good news is that there is a growing movement to address these inequalities, it added.

Nepal Observes World Health Day 2019

Source: NepalInData

In line with every other nation, Nepal has also officially observed the World Health Day 2019 on April 07, 2019.

On the occasion, UN Nepal organized a special event at Kathmandu’s Durbar Square, calling on Nepalis from all walks of life to reflect, draw and sign on the #WHD2019Theme ‘Primary Health Care’.

“Via the interactive art program, organized by National Health Education, Information and Communication Centre (NHEICC) under Department of Health Services (DoHS), Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) and World Health Organization (WHO) – Country Office Nepal, the public art program highlighted the concept of Universal Health Coverage and Primary Health Care (PHC),” read an official statement by UN Nepal.

The program was an effective interactive session on promoting and spreading awareness on UHC and PHC under #WHD2019.

• PHC Key for UHC

UHC ensures that all individuals and communities receive health services without financial   burden, covering a range of basic and quality health services including health promotion to  prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and intense care. This also promotes access to key  health services that address the factors leading causes of disease and death, and PHC      stands vital to the process.

PHC, as a means to UHC, ensures basic health services that cover majority of individual’s   healthcare needs with key focus on key aspects of physical, mental and social health and  wellbeing. Achieving this is a serious mission that demands effective workforce. Currently,     the world has an estimated shortfall of 18 million health workers, with only 8 countries (out   of available data of 30 countries), spending at least USD 40 per person on PHC per year.

Nepal has been striving hard, over the years, to ensure healthcare coverage for its citizens. Some of the efforts include:

• Nepali Parliament endorsed the historic Health Insurance Bill announcing Universal Health Coverage for Nepalis, including mandatory enrolment of all Nepali households in the universal healthcare program for preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative support.
• The Himalayan nation has also proposed National Migration Health Policy (NMHP) exclusively for its migrant population
• The country has made some remarkable progress in child and maternal healthcare
• Nepal has been successful in fighting out global menaces like Diabetic Retinopathy, Rubella, Polio, Leprosy, among others
• Besides, the country has been making sincere efforts to control growing concerns of rheumatic arthritis, cardiovascular, diabetes, mental health, among other serious healthcare issues
• The country has been taking necessary measures with key announcements on almost every health awareness day such as World Hepatitis Day, World Hemophilia Day, and more
• The Himalayan nation signed ‘Delhi Declaration’ to ensure improved medical access
• The country has been making serious efforts to increase the availability of tetanus vaccines and other disease-fighting drugs

List not exhaustive! Nepal has been making sincere attempts with formulation of new policies, new measures and more to improve healthcare coverage to its citizens. On the other side, WHO Nepal has also been organizing special programs to promote gender-based equality, strengthen health communities, the level of diagnosis on deadly diseases like Cancer, among others.

Also Read: Nepal-WHO Country Report 2018-22: Positive Outlook

WHO’s Call for Universal Health Coverage

In the Sustainable Development Goals, all countries have committed to Achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030. To meet that target, we need to see 1 billion people benefitting from UHC in the next 5 years.

This is not an unattainable dream, nor will it require billions of dollars to implement. UHC is achievable, right here, right now, for all of us.

“Strong and sustainable primary health care is the bedrock of universal health coverage, and the best defense against outbreaks and other health emergencies,” WHO adds.

Health for all is possible even with health systems that are less than perfect – countries at many different income levels are making progress with the resources they have.

The Way Forward

Towards achieving UHC goals, WHO, on April 05, 2019, formed partnerships with various global health and development organizations to symbolize the shared commitment of ‘health for everyone, everywhere’.

“This shared commitment will be fundamental as we move forward to the next milestone in the global push towards universal health coverage – at the United Nations High-Level meeting on Universal Health Coverage in New York later this year,” WHO added.

“At that meeting, world leaders will have the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to UHC to ensuring that every mother can give birth safely, that every child survives past its fifth birthday, and that no one dies simply because they are poor,” WHO noted in its conclusion statement.

The post World Health Day 2019: Nepal Promotes PHCs for ‘Universal Health Coverage’ appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The Himalayan Nation proudly celebrated this day as a society that completely fought out the epidemic Polio.

World Health Organization (WHO) declared Nepal as a completely Polio-free nation in 2014.
 
 

On the occasion of the World Polio Day 2018, let’s take a look at Nepal’s success story in fully eradicating Polio.

The Success Story: Beginning!
Nepal got its first polio eradication program in 1998 under the funding of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and affiliated to WHO’s Nepal country office.

The program was formed with an aim to conduct active surveillance for possible polio cases and ensure technical and other assistance on polio vaccination to the country’s national immunization program, the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI).

Further, the program grew in strength with nearly 14 field-offices-based surveillance medical officers engaged in the search for people with Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP), i.e. suspected polio cases.

The program thus succeeded in utilizing the surveillance data to guide polio immunization activities through mass campaigns with oral poliovirus vaccine.

By 2000, the country could successfully eliminate indigenous polio!

The Success Story: Period of Change!
2000 was a successful beginning for the country in its fight against polio. The country further succeeded in controlling the disease outbreak between 2005 and 2010.

Dealing with indigenous polio gave the country abilities to use resources from the polio eradication program to also control other vaccine-preventable diseases.

Since 2002, the program staff began to implement their experience to bring in improvement in multiple aspects of EPI.

They performed a series of activities such as continuous training to EPI staff on issues such as data management, vaccine cold chain management and assessment of adverse events. Besides, they also took ahead the development and implementation of policy guidelines.

They also assisted the public officials in supervision and monitoring regular immunization activities, microplanning to increase reach-out to every district, enhancing research capabilities and piloting innovations such as electronic immunization records and immunization training centers.

Finally, Nepal participated in a certification program on wild poliovirus elimination in the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region in 2014, before finally getting declared as the ‘polio-free nation’.

The Success Story: Way Forward
In 2014, the number of surveillance system activities expanded to 299 sites, with focus on measles, rubella, and neonatal tetanus.

And, the information from the expanded surveillance helped in taking further the development and implementation of the country’s immunization policies.

Backed by surveillance data and the polio eradication program, EPI launched a measles vaccination campaign during 2004–2005 and could successfully identify 45 confirmed measles cases in 2006.

Further, a reported rise in measles cases led to a follow-up vaccination campaign in 2008, targeting children aged 9 months to 4 years.

Problems intensified in 2011 with additional measles cases reported along with years of data showing rubella on the other side. This led to the combined measles–vaccination campaign in 2012–2013.

Following this, EPI added rubella vaccination to the country’s routine immunization schedule, which further curtailed measles and rubella cases during 2013-2014.

Overall, the polio eradication program helped EPI introduce hepatitis B vaccine in 2003, Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine in 2009, inactivated polio vaccine in 2014 and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in 2015.

And, the eradication program’s research contributed to rise in vaccination coverage in the country among children aged 12–23 months during 2001-2015.

In a Nut Shell
The polio eradication program in Nepal not only addressed polio concerns but also became successful in preventing other vaccine-preventable diseases, thus also strengthening immunization system and reducing disease incidence across the nation.

The post World Polio Day 2018: Nepal, A Polio-free Nation! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed this in its publication on blindness and visual impairment released in October 2017.

“Among the first countries to make use of the new Tool for Assessment of Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy (TADDS) was Nepal, where the Nepali Ministry of Health had been concerned by the increase in diabetes and diabetic retinopathy and wanted to use TADDS to make sure it was taking the appropriate actions in response,” said WHO in its latest update on blindness and visual impairment.

WHO introduced TADDS in 2015 as a measure to address concerns related to timely diagnosis and treatment access for diabetic retinopathy, globally.

Lauding WHO’s support through this tool, Sailesh Kumar Mishra, National Programme Coordinator of the Apex Body for Eye Health under the Ministry of Health, Nepal said, “At the time Nepal had taken a step forward by listing non-communicable diseases as a priority health concern, but it was lacking the specific health policies, plans and programs to address diabetes and diabetic retinopathy in particular. TADDS has helped move us in the right direction.”

The WHO Country Office gave a direct assistance to the Nepali Ministry of Health in this assessment, informed the WHO release.

“The Office supported the field work, monitored the progresses and provided effective and timely feedback to the WHO Headquarters in Geneva,” said WHO.

How TADDS Helped Nepal?

The assessment made through TADDS reported insufficient collaboration between the eye care and diabetes management sectors, which made it difficult for the country’s health care providers plan and progress in their related tasks.

With the WHO tool, Nepal could assess current situation in the country, range of coordination across the services, extent of data sharing and the overall awareness the country’s diabetic patients have on the disease control.

A lack of needed awareness among the diabetic patients of the country, on the ways to manage diabetes and diabetic retinopathy, was also observed.

To address the concerns, the tool helped Nepal understand the need for updating its disease management guidelines to reflect best practices.

TADDS Assessment Led to Policy-level Decisions

Following the assessment, WHO and the Government of Nepal held a national policy discussion, wherein, the Nepali Health Ministry and its partners such as patient associations, agreed upon few immediate measures to address gaps in the system.

“Since then, the Government of Nepal has been making good progress. A National Strategy for the Integration of Diabetic Retinopathy Eye Care Services into the Public Health System and several clinical guidelines for managing diabetic retinopathy have been developed in part based on WHO guidance and are about to be approved.”

Finally, the Government of Nepal included diabetic retinopathy in the National Eye Health Policy, which is also nearing completion.

“We now know best where to place our energies, so that people with diabetes get the eye care they need to prevent any unnecessary loss of vision. And we have been able to do this because we made sure we had the buy in of all the stakeholders involved,” says Mishra.

Chronic Diseases on Rise

According to WHO data, there are around 422 million adults with diabetes, globally, and loss of vision is one of the major complications caused through diabetes.

Stating that diabetic retinopathy accounts to 2.6% of the causes of blindness in the world, WHO highlights that as one of the challenging diseases for many countries.

To address this major issue, WHO came up with TADDS to help the countries in dealing with diabetic retinopathy.

The post Global Health Issues: Nepal Among the First Countries to Fight Diabetic Retinopathy appeared first on Nepali Sansar.