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NepalMSF established healthcare projects in Nepal during the violent conflict between Maoist insurgents and the royal government army that affected the country for over a decade. In November of 2006, a peace agreement was reached and the Maoists became part of a transitional government formed in early 2007. Although this conflict is officially over, access to healthcare is still a concern and the state of women’s health is particularly worrying. In the towns of Kalikot and Khotang, projects with an emphasis on women’s health and reproductive care continue. Free healthcare and medicine are provided to all patients seen inside the hospitals as well as the outpatient departments. A total of 26,094 consultations were carried out in these locations in 2006. In May 2007, MSF organized and supervised a six-day project to operate on 83 women with uterine-vaginal prolapse (UVP) in Khotang. UVP is a physical condition created when tissues supporting the uterus in the pelvic cavity are weakened, allowing the uterus to descend into the vaginal canal. This condition is usually caused by obstetrical trauma during labor and delivery. A variety of debilitating and difficult symptoms including pain, discharge and bladder infections greatly decrease quality of life and sometimes result in women being abandoned by their husbands. The Nepalese Ministry of Health did initial screening of women and Public Health Concern Trust Nepal, a Nepalese surgical NGO, provided medical materials and supplied surgeons. MSF spent two months organizingand overseeing the project, made extra shelters and temporary structures to facilitate the volume of operations, supplied accommodation for patients and their caretakers and provided follow-up care. All operations were performed successfully. Project Handovers MSF has worked in partnership with the Nepalese Ministry of Health in the reference hospital de Salle, in Rukum district. MSF in 2006 undertook 27,300 outpatient consultations, mostly for people with respiratory infections and diarrhea; performed 1,728 gynecological–obstetric consultations; followed 79 patients on treatment for tuberculosis; managed the pharmacy and assured proper hygiene and waste disposal. MSF has now withdrawn from this project. In 2006/2007 MSF continued to manage two hospitals, located in what were previously “Maoist zones” at Rukumkot and Arviskot. In these two structures 37,500 consultations were carried out in 2006. The signing of the peace accord between the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels has permitted safer movement of people in these regions, allowing them to reach healthcare structures and decreasing the need for medical intervention by MSF. These projects were handed over to local NGOs in June 2007. MSF has worked in Nepal since 2002. |
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