World AIDS Day 2014 Celebrated

2014-12-04 -- HERD

We celebrated World AIDS Day 2014 on December 1 organised by  National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC). The slogan for this year was 'GETTING TO ZERO' with ZERO new HIV infections; ZERO discrimination and ZERO AIDS related deaths.

The event was organised in Basantapur, Kathmandu with the inauguration of the Opening Ceremony by Honourable Minister for Health and Population, Mr. Khagaraj Adhikari.

The event was participated by about 30 organisations working in the sector of HIV/AIDS. These organisations highlighted their activities through the exhibition stalls, visited by the public after the opening ceremony.

HERD had its own exhibition stall visited by 600 visitors. We distributed IEC materials on HIV/AIDS and TB as well as distributed condoms for the public.

Cultural programme was also organised during the event after the stall exhibition with performances by various musical groups. There were also bike stunt performances gathering interest of the public even during the cold winter evening.

Some snapshots of the event:

WHO WR Sri Lanka and WHO Nepal's visit to Gokarna PHCC in Kathmandu (a study site of HERD)

2014-10-13 -- HERD

Date of visit:  4^th September, 2014

Team members:

Sri Lanka Team

Dr Firdosi Rustom Mehta - WHO Representative to Sri Lanka

Dr Lanka Dissanayake - National Professional Officer - Non Communicable Diseases

Dr Palitha Karunappema - Deputy Director - Ragama Rehabilitation Hospital

Dr Asanka Ratnayake - Senior Consultant General Physician, Colombo South Teaching Hospital

Dilip Hensman - National Professional Officer - Health Information Systems

Nepal Team

Ravi  Kafle: National Professional Officer

A team of the World Health Organisation, Sri Lanka and Nepal visited the Gokarna Primary Health Care Centre (PHCC) in Kathmandu, one of the study sites of the tobacco cessation study in HERD.  The team was led by World Representative, Sri Lanka and the major objectives of their visit were:

• To understand the health system of the country and its functioning
• To understand the situation of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and how they are dealt with in the peripheral level care.
• To explore the possibilities and ways of integration of NCDs into the routine primary care system

The programme started by a brief explanation of the health system of Nepal by Dr. Ravi Kafle, National Professional Officer, WHO Nepal.  This was followed by a detailed tour of all the sections of the PHCC guided by the PHCC in-charge, Ms. Kalpana Pandey and the Medical Officer, Dr. Swikriti Shrestha.  The areas visited included Family Planning and Counselling, laboratory facility, tuberculosis clinic, and the OPD. The discussions focused on the services provided by the PHCC with a special focus on NCDs. HERD researchers were then asked to briefly explain about the smoking cessation project that was piloted in the PHCC in 2013. The details of the project, its aim, implementation, challenges faced during the implementation and preliminary findings were explained to the team.

The WHO team, Sri Lanka as well as Nepal appreciated the PHCC staff and HERD for their contribution to improving the health service delivery.

National Health Policy 2071 disseminated

2014-08-12 -- HERD

Honourable Minister for Health and Population, Mr. Khagaraj Adhikari has disseminated the National Health Policy 2071. The full policy can be downloaded from this link: http://www.mohp.gov.np/index.php/news/62-honorable-health-and-population...

STS 2013 Final Report Published

2014-08-11 -- HERD

Nepal Health Sector Support Programme (NHSSP) has published the final report of Service Tracking Survey 2013. HERD was the implementing agency for this survey.  The survey was carried out in 13 districts namely Sankhuwasabha, Dolakha, Jumla, Ilam, Lalitpur, Lamjung, Surkhet, Achham, Siraha, Dhanusha, Rupandehi, Dang, Kanchanpur. The major objectives of this survey were to monitor the indicators of the revised NHSP – 2 framework, implementation of the Aama and free health care programmes, financial management capacity of health facilities, quality of care including client experiences as well as collect information related to governance along with Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) approaches on the services provided at the health facilities. 

Follow this link for the full report: http://www.nhssp.org.np/monitoring/Service%20Tracking%20Survey%202013.pdf

Field Researchers' Training of National FCHV Survey

2014-08-05 -- HERD

Training of field researchers for the National FCHV Survey is being held from August 4, 2014 to August 11, 2014 at Indreni Complex, Naya Baneshwor.

HERD is an implementing agency of this survey which is managed by JSI and funded by USAID. This is a nationwide survey covering all 75 districts and all VDCs. A total of 56 field researchers are being trained for this survey.

Dissemination Programme of Health Insurance Study

2014-08-01 -- HERD

A dissemination programme of health insurance study titled, 'Comprehensive District Assessment in Kailali district' was organised on July 31, 2014 by Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). This study was conducted to support the National Health Insurance Programme. This programme was attended by officials of Ministry of Health and Population as well as various External Development Partners (EDPs).

Dr. Sushil Baral, Executive Director, HERD presented the major findings on behalf of the implementing agency. 

National Validation Workshop of Migration and Health Study

2014-04-10 -- HERD

National Validation Workshop of the Migration and Health Study titled 'Baseline Assessment of the Health Vulnerabilities of Inbound and Outbound Migrants' was organised by International Organisation for Migration on July 9, 2014. This workshop was organised to disseminate the major findings of the study. Dr. Sushil Baral, Executive Director of HERD presented the major findings of the study. This workshop was chaired by Mr. Ram Krishna Adhikari, Under Secretary of Ministry of Health and Population.

A total of 37 participants participated in the workshop including senior government officials and representative from organisations working in Migration and Health Field. Dr. Raz Mohammad Wali, Chief Migration Health Physician of IOM Nepal welcomed all the participants and gave inaugural speech. The workshop was chaired by Mr. Ram Krishna Adhikari, Under Secretary from Ministry of Health and Population. Other government officials were from Under Secretary from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Section Officer from Ministry of Labour and Employment. Likewise, there was participation from non-governmental organizations who are dealing with migration issue such as Foreign Employment Agent Association, The Asia Foundation, Save the Children, FHI 360 Nepal, USAID and AWO international

Orientation on TB and Tobacco Integration and Training on Counselling for Smoking Cessation within Primary Care in Nepal

2014-04-10 -- HERD

HERD conducted a two-day training programme for 'Orientation on TB and tobacco integration and training on counseling for smoking cessation within Primary Care in Nepal' on April 7-8, 2014 at SAP Falcha, Babermahal, Kathmandu. The programme was conducted in collaboration with the National Tuberculosis Centre and the World Health Organization. Around thirty participants attended the training that included the DPHO, DTLO and the health workers from Primary Health Care Centres of Rupandehi and Kathmandu districts. The purpose of the training was to reinforce the smoking cessation component of PAL and to train the health workers in the 2 districts on the importance of integration of smoking cessation in TB control. 

Day one of the training emphasized on the importance of integration of tobacco cessation activity in TB control programme with focus on PAL. On day two, health workers received training on behaviour change intervention counselling for TB and/or lung heath patients on smoking cessation using a flipbook developed by HERD. The programme ended with closing remarks from Dr Giampaolo Mezzabotta, Medical Officer Tuberculosis, WHO and was formally concluded by NTC Direcor, Dr. Rajendra Pant.

Special Edition Brochure on World TB Day 2014

2014-03-28 -- HERD

To mark the World TB Day 2014, WHO, Stop TB Partnership and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria launched a joint brochure on Reaching the 3 Million for World TB Day in the global effort to find, treat and cure all those ill with TB and accelerate progress towards zero TB deaths, infections, suffering and stigma.

For further details and to download the brochure, please follow the link:

http://www.stoptb.org/news/stories/2014/ns14_015.asp