c) Study the table titled "Condition of health facilities in nepal and
comment on the status of health sector of Nepal in brief
Answers
Answer:
Human Development Index (HDI) increased to 0.458 in 2011[4] from 0.291 in 1975.[5][6]
Mortality rate during childbirth deceased from 850 out of 100,000 mothers in 1990 to 190 out of 100,000 mothers in 2013.[7]
Mortality under the age of five decreased from 61.5 per 1,000 live births in 2005 to 31.4 per 1,000 live births in 2018.[8]
Infant Mortality decreased from 97.70 in 1990 to 29.40 in 2015.[9]
Child malnutrition: Stunting 37%, wasting 11%, and underweight 30% among children under the age of five.[10]
Life expectancy rose from 66 years in 2005 to 71.5 years in 2018.[11][12]
Explanation:
Health care services in Nepal are provided by both public and private sectors and are generally regarded as failing to meet international standards. Prevalence of disease is significantly higher in Nepal than in other South Asian countries, especially in rural areas.[1][2] Moreover, the country's topographical and sociological diversity results in periodic epidemics of infectious diseases, epizootics and natural hazards such as floods, forest fires, landslides, and earthquakes.[2] A large section of the population, particularly those living in rural poverty, are at risk of infection and mortality by communicable diseases, malnutrition and other health-related events.[2] Nevertheless, some improvements in health care can be witnessed; most notably, there has been significant improvement in the field of maternal health. These improvements include:[3]There are 102 Hospitals in Nepal according to the data up to 2011. Health care services, hygiene, nutrition, and sanitation in Nepal are of inferior quality and fail to reach a large proportion of the population, particularly in rural areas.[21] The poor have limited access to basic health care due to high costs, low availability, lack of health education and conflicting traditional beliefs.[22] Reproductive health care is limited and difficult to access for women. The United Nation's 2009 human development report highlighted a growing social concern in Nepal in the form of individuals without citizenship being marginalized and denied access to government welfare benefits.[23][24][25]
These problems have led many governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to implement communication programs encouraging people to engage in healthy behavior such as family planning, contraceptive use, spousal communication, and safe motherhood practices, such as the use of skilled birth attendants during delivery and immediate breastfeeding.[26]
coments
Micro-nutrient deficiencies are widespread, with almost half of pregnant women and children under five, as well as 35% of women of reproductive age, being anemic. Only 24% of children consume iron-rich food, 24% of children meet a minimally acceptable diet, and only half of the pregnant women take recommended iron supplementation during pregnancy. A contributing factor to deteriorating nutrition is high diarrhoeal disease morbidity, exacerbated by the lack of access to proper sanitation and the common practice of open defecation (44%) in Nepal.[27]Periods of stagnant economic growth and political instability have contributed to acute food shortages and high rates of malnutrition, mostly affecting vulnerable women and children in the hills and mountains of the mid and far western regions. Despite the rate of individuals with stunted growth and the number of cases of underweight individuals has decreased, alongside an increase of exclusive breastfeeding in the past seven years, 41% of children under the age of five still suffer from stunted growth, a rate that increases to 60% in the western mountains. A report from DHS 2016, has shown that in Nepal, 36% of children are stunted (below -2 standard deviation), 12% are severely stunted (below -3 standard deviation), 27% of children under 5 are underweight, and 5% are severely underweight. Variation in the percentage of stunted and underweight children under 5 can be compared between urban and rural regions of Nepal, with rural areas being more affected (40% stunted and 31% underweight) than urban areas (32% stunted and 23% underweight).