High-quality paediatric care is essential for young Nepali population
Over 40% of Nepal’s population is under the age of 18. Within a population of 30 million, 12 million are children. High-quality pediatric care to keep these 12 million children healthy is essential.
Lack of access to pediatric care leads to higher morbidity and (premature) deaths. Moreover, it might come at a cost for society: children in need of care might not be able to enjoy education, resulting in less-educated population and lower standards of sanitation and welfare.
The availability of child health care in Nepal is very limited. There is only one government hospital for children in the country. The children’s healthcare situation is severe, with only 475 total beds to serve roughly 12 million children. This falls drastically short of the recommended 5 beds per 1000 by the WHO.
Currently, Nepal faces major problems in pediatric healthcare
The healthcare system suffers from (among others) the following problems:
- Shortage of qualified healthcare professionals and facilities. Moreover, the available healthcare facilities do not offer the complete range of healthcare services that are needed. Especially specialty services are limited.
- Low accessibility of healthcare facilities: most of the available hospitals and specialized care facilities are concentrated in the Kathmandu Valley. Due to Nepal’s infrastructural and geographical challenges the accessibility of hospital care and specialized care is low.
- Absence of a healthcare network: healthcare facilities operate primarily on their own, there is little collaboration between healthcare facilities. Moreover, Nepal does not have an effective referral system. This results in inefficiencies in care provision and inability to provide comprehensive care.
THE NEED FOR A MULTI-SPECIALTY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
In conjunction with the government, KIOCH will aim to fill the gap for child health services.
It is difficult to change the current healthcare system
However, there is currently no national healthcare plan outlining the way Nepal reorganizes its healthcare system to reach these goals. Additionally, healthcare systems are complex and rigid, changing such systems takes time and can be challenging.*
How to make changes?
To be able to make a change in the healthcare system, Nepal needs a breakthrough: an innovative approach.
KIOCH aims to be the start of this change.