Re-establish a Healthcare Infrastructure in Nepal

The ‘Re-establish a Healthcare Infrastructure in Nepal’ project accomplished a great deal in Nepal following the devastating 2015 earthquake.

 One Heart World-Wide (OHW) was among the very first organizations on the ground after the April 25, 2015 disaster. The 7.8 magnitude quake, also known as the Gorkha earthquake, killed nearly 9,000 people and injured nearly 22,000. More than two million people lost their homes, and entire villages – particularly near the epicenter – were destroyed. In 2015, OHW had just begun the implementation phase of program activities in Dhading and Sindhupalchok, two districts that were hit hard by the earthquake, sustaining 90 percent of damages to their health facilities. In response, we modified our program implementation to integrate much-needed earthquake relief activities.

 Over the past two years, OHW has achieved the following in earthquake districts:

1. Trained 1,146 community outreach providers. These community outreach providers are composed of health workers and female community health volunteers that travel to the villages and local communities to provide support, educate, and counsel pregnant women, their families, and their communities on the risks of delivering at home, potential pregnancy complications, and the importance of seeking regular Antenatal and Postnatal checkups at certified birthing centers. 
2. Trained 2,800 local stakeholders. Local stakeholders are trained in the proper functioning and maintenance of the birthing centers and health facilities so that once these buildings have been renovated and upgraded by OHW, the stakeholders can take responsibility for maintenance and its long-term success. 
3. Trained 29 medical providers to be skilled birth attendants (SBAs). The course follows the national SBA curriculum, which is based on WHO's Integrated Management of Pregnancy and Childbirth (IMPaC) curriculum. The program includes four weeks of classroom teaching followed by four weeks of clinical experience in a maternity ward. 
4. Provided continued medical education (CME) for 188 SBAs. This involves an intensive three-day refresher training in emergency obstetrics, basics of skilled birth attendance, and introduces new concepts in obstetric and neonatal care, which allows the clinical staff to be better prepared to effectively recognize and deal with obstetric and neonatal complications. 
5. Fully upgraded 10 health facilities into fully functioning birthing centers.  Buildings designed to be birthing centers or hospitals commonly lack basic infrastructure such as electricity, running water, and insulation. We upgrade each building to meet minimum standards: running water, solar electricity, insulation of roof, walls and windows, medical and human waste disposal sites and equip the buildings with standard equipment such as patient beds, delivery tables, medical instruments, autoclave sterilizer, etc. 

Currently, there is less need for earthquake-related program activities, and OHW is continuing to implement our regular program activities. In light of these developments, we are closing the earthquake relief campaign and replacing it with a campaign to ‘Ensure Safe Motherhood for Women in Rural Nepal,’ which will target all districts that OHW serves.