![[Nepal] Child mortality rates have dropped due to the national immunisation and vaccination programmes being undertaken in the country. [Date picture taken: 09/01/2006]](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20069270.jpg.webp?itok=vFCSMkCh "Upwards of 1 million children have been vaccinated against tetanus in the campaign")
It is a simple step to save a child in a country like Nepal where, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 65,000 children under five die every year mostly from preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections (ARI), pneumonia, measles and undernutrition.
All the children need are vaccinations, vitamins and preventive steps to save their lives, says Nepal's Ministry of Health (MOH), which jointly with UNICEF has been running successful health campaigns to reduce the deaths of the Nepalese children.
According to the UN children’s agency, there are four key ways to cut down mortality rates among children. First, illnesses should be prevented with the help of vaccination and Vitamin A supplements. UNICEF said that Nepal had proved remarkable in these areas and in the treatment of pneumonia and diarrhoea.
“Nepal managed to eliminate neo-natal tetanus last year, and the national measles campaign in 2004-2005, which reached more than 9 million children in all districts, cut measles death by 2,500,” said Suomi Sakai, UNICEF representative in Nepal.
Sakai explained that the second way to tackle the problem was to promptly treat diseases such as pneumonia with antibiotics. In addition, diarrhoea can be treated with low-cost oral rehydration salts and now with zinc to reduce its severity.
The third way is by improving newborn and maternal health. The final way is by improving nutrition. About half of all child deaths in Nepal are linked to undernutrition.
“There is hope for reducing the deaths of our children to a great extent and all we need is to reach all the poorest communities with our health work and use our resources effectively,” said Meena Thapa, a female healthcare volunteer (FHV).
Around 48,000 FHVs are working in rural parts of Nepal, where they play a key role in raising health awareness among local communities and by working closely with families in the most remote areas to help keep children healthy and alive.
A new global study by UNICEF and its partners in 60 countries said that Nepal was one of the only seven countries in the world on track to cut child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.
Even during the most violent situations in the country, due to the decade-long armed conflict between the Maoist rebels and Nepalese state, health campaigns for children were allowed without much hindrance, UNICEF said.
Since April, the peace process has been ongoing between the rebels and the new interim government formed after the end of absolute rule of the Nepalese monarch, King Gyanendra. Health workers are hoping that access to better health will now get better.
“It is my hope that the work on the structures for peace will also be work to improve the health of the children of Nepal,” said Sakai.
NN/JL/DS
All the children need are vaccinations, vitamins and preventive steps to save their lives, says Nepal's Ministry of Health (MOH), which jointly with UNICEF has been running successful health campaigns to reduce the deaths of the Nepalese children.
According to the UN children’s agency, there are four key ways to cut down mortality rates among children. First, illnesses should be prevented with the help of vaccination and Vitamin A supplements. UNICEF said that Nepal had proved remarkable in these areas and in the treatment of pneumonia and diarrhoea.
“Nepal managed to eliminate neo-natal tetanus last year, and the national measles campaign in 2004-2005, which reached more than 9 million children in all districts, cut measles death by 2,500,” said Suomi Sakai, UNICEF representative in Nepal.
Sakai explained that the second way to tackle the problem was to promptly treat diseases such as pneumonia with antibiotics. In addition, diarrhoea can be treated with low-cost oral rehydration salts and now with zinc to reduce its severity.
The third way is by improving newborn and maternal health. The final way is by improving nutrition. About half of all child deaths in Nepal are linked to undernutrition.
“There is hope for reducing the deaths of our children to a great extent and all we need is to reach all the poorest communities with our health work and use our resources effectively,” said Meena Thapa, a female healthcare volunteer (FHV).
Around 48,000 FHVs are working in rural parts of Nepal, where they play a key role in raising health awareness among local communities and by working closely with families in the most remote areas to help keep children healthy and alive.
A new global study by UNICEF and its partners in 60 countries said that Nepal was one of the only seven countries in the world on track to cut child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.
Even during the most violent situations in the country, due to the decade-long armed conflict between the Maoist rebels and Nepalese state, health campaigns for children were allowed without much hindrance, UNICEF said.
Since April, the peace process has been ongoing between the rebels and the new interim government formed after the end of absolute rule of the Nepalese monarch, King Gyanendra. Health workers are hoping that access to better health will now get better.
“It is my hope that the work on the structures for peace will also be work to improve the health of the children of Nepal,” said Sakai.
NN/JL/DS
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