Donor agencies call for priority to MDGS

Katmandu, Jan. 27 – The donor agencies, providing financial and technical assistance to the health sector of Nepal, have suggested that the government should give high priority to make the health services more effective in the days ahead and to achieve the millennium development goal (MDGs).

 

Stating that people of rural areas still do not have access to health rights, the agencies said that they will provide further economic and technical support in the coming days to make the health service strong.

 

At a three-day joint meeting of the Ministry of Health and Population and the donor agencies begun here from today, Chief of the donor agencies suggested the effective implementation of health related programmes to achieve health-related millennium development goals.

 

It was informed that although safe motherhood and reproductive health are heading towards success, there are challenges on tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, leprosy and immunization programme.

 

There is a trend that high-officials of the Ministry and donor agencies carry out onsite visit of the health services run by the ministry before the meeting.

 

They had monitored the heath services run in Ilam, Jhapa, Surkhet and Dailekh this time.

 

A forum of donor agencies was established in 2004 with the objective of helping the Ministry on health related budget and programmes of the donor agencies through one-door system.

 

The joint meeting has been taking place between the Ministry and Forum every year since 2004.

 

The World Health Organisation (WHO), Department for International Development (DFID) and USAID, among others are the donor agencies.

 

Sanda Steimer, also the chief of the USAID/Nepal, is now the chairperson of the Forum. Steimer said that the health service programmes run by the Ministry are better but people of rural areas have no easy access to it.

 

Steimer said talks were underway to provide more assistance for the expansion of the health sector improvement programmes.

 

Inaugurating the meeting, Minister for Health and Population, Bidhyadhar Mallik, said that the Ministry should be more responsible in the context of public comments that result has not been achieved in the health sector as per the investment.

 

Similarly, Secretary at the Ministry, Dr. Praveen Mishra, said that the ministry has been giving high priority to take quality health services to the rural areas.

 

The meeting will review the overall health services, it is learnt.