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Importance of Health and Status of Health in Nepal

Subject: Social Studies

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Overview

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. This note contains a description of the importance of health and status of health in Nepal.
Importance of Health and Status of Health in Nepal

Health

Importance

Health is our greatest wealth. You cannot study well if your health is bad nor can you learn well and work hard. You cannot enjoy foods, games and books either. Living with some diseases is really painful. You have to swallow bitter medicines and mostly are confined in bed waiting for others to do all things for you. Even a huge property is spent in caring for our health if we are unhealthy.

Only skilled and healthy citizens can work sufficiently to raise the level of their country. Unhealthy citizens become the burden for their family, society and the nation. The government has to make a huge investment in health sector if public health is poor. It causes lack of sufficient budget for improving other infrastructures such as education and industry because health is to be given the topmost priority. Industries and construction cannot run smoothly due to lack of enough manpower. Natural resources in spite of their high potential are just wasted.


Status of health in Nepal

In Nepal huge budget is allocated and many organizations are working in health sector. However, expected changes have not taken place in the health of general public. Life expectancy is hardly 65 years. Many children are still malnourished. Epidemic and endemic diseases are common. Drinking water is not safe. The environment in urban areas is highly polluted. Doctors are not ready to serve in remote villages. There are not enough hospitals and health center for medical services. Superstitions and ignorance are high. Many people have not realized the importance of medical treatment yet. Population growth rate is high so it is difficult to provide good health services for all. Even the available facilities have not been fairly distributed. Most good hospitals are located in few cities like Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bharatpur. The level of nutrition is poor for the majority of people. The Economic level is also poor. Private hospitals offering quality health services are too expensive for average Nepali population to afford.

Health institutes in Nepal (FY 2066/67 BS)

Hospitals 100
Primary health centers/health center /health posts 883
Sub-health posts 3114
Women health volunteers 48604

Source: statistical bulletin, CBS 2010

Aims for improvement

Quite many people, variously skilled, are working in community level to improve the health condition of the general public. Health centers and health posts have been extended up to the village level. National and international organizations and agencies are actively cooperating.

Study the following figures that show the achievements of an interim plan as well as the aims of the current plan.

SN Health indicator Achievements of the intern plan Aim of the current plan
1 Newborn infant mortality rate (in 100) 30 23
2 Infant mortality rate (in 1000 live birth) 44 38
3 Total fertility rate 2.9 2.75
4 Maternal mortality rate (in 100000) 229 192
5 Women taking obstetric services from health workers (%) 28.8 40
6 Population using contraceptives (%) 48 57
7 Population with drinking water service (%) 80 85
8 Population below poverty line (%) 25.4 21
Things to remember
  • Health is our greatest wealth.
  • Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
  • Life expectancy of Nepalese is hardly 65 years.
  • Disease prevalence is higher in Nepal than it is in other South Asian countries, especially in rural areas.
  • It includes every relationship which established among the people.
  • There can be more than one community in a society. Community smaller than society.
  • It is a network of social relationships which cannot see or touched.
  • common interests and common objectives are not necessary for society.
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Questions and Answers

According to me, doctors are correct because water is the most important and the most consumed element and if the water we consume is not clean then we might suffer from different communicable diseases including typhoid, diarrhoea, and dysentery etc. The doctors are there for their medical treatment but if the doctors themselves are suffering from disease then the society cannot be healthy.

Nowadays, new technologies have arrived in the field of medical science for curing many diseases. As doctors have to conduct many surgical operations and attend emergencies they need electricity.

I would convince the person saying that instead of getting a treatment from a wizard he should've consulted a doctor and discourage him to go to the wizard again as the wizards takes a lot of money and sacrifice the lives of animals but does no good to the person as the person has medical disease and no spiritual stress and at the end the person dies, which is not the fault of the doctor.
The list of major health problems and solutions are listed below:
Problems:
  • Lack of hospitals and health posts.
  • Lack of awareness regarding importance of health.
  • Superstitious beliefs on wizards.
  • Poor economic level
  • Unaffordable price for quality health service
Solutions:
  • Extending health centre and health post.
  • Active cooperation between nation and international organizations.
  • Free medical checkups in rural areas.
  • Awareness programs should be held in order to acknowledge the people.
  • Educating people about the crooked wizards.
The practical steps needed for achieving all the aims of the current plan are:
  • Educating people about the importance of health.
  • Giving proper care to the both mother and the newborn to decrease the mortality rate.
  • To aware people about the importance of clean drinking water and educating them to purify water.
  • Encouraging women to take obstetric service from health workers.

Transport is considered as an important infrastructure of development because it helps in the development of agriculture, industry, trade and business, tourism and human relations.

Road transport system is the most suited transport system for Nepal because it is comparatively affordable and also easier to operate than others. The other transport systems are lagging behind because of the mountainous topography, landlocked position, lack of technological development and poor economic conditions of Nepal.

The list of five major problems of transport in Nepal and its solution are given below:
Problems:
  • Uneven geographical distribution of Nepal
  • Lack of minimum physical facilities
  • Lack of political stabilities and prolonged transition phase
  • Lack of budget and skilled manpower
Solutions:
  • Reconstructing the damaged roads
  • Encouraging government to improve road system and also make transport available in every part of the country
  • Utilizing natural and modern system to make the roads last for a very long time.
  • Regular and proper maintenance of the roads

1. Nepal is an underdeveloped country. Many types of health problems are prevalent here and epidemics have become the characteristics of Nepal. Infant mortality rate (61.5 per thousand), child mortality rate (102.3 per thousand) and total fertility rate (4.20 per women) are higher in comparison with developed countries. Similarly, crude death rate (9.6 per thousand) and crude birth rate 33.1 per thousand are also high. To conclude, the status of health condition hasn't improved.

2. The availability of essential health service should be increased by 20% to meet the goal of 9th plan.

3. Infant mortality rate of 2053/54= 74.7 per thousand
i.e. 7.47% (74.74/1000 * 100)
Infant mortality rate of 20 years aim/target= 34.4 per thousand
i.e. 3.44% (34.44/1000* 100)
Therefore, The differences between two= 7.42 - 3.44
Decreased percent= 4.03/7.47* 100 = 53.95%
Hence, Infant mortality rate should be decreased by 53.95% to meet the goals of next 20 years.

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. People living here do not have enough nutritious food to eat, pure water to drink, ideal places for physical exercise and good health services for treatment. At the same time, they are involved in many bad habits like smoking, chewing tobacco, taking wine and using drugs. All these adversely affect the health of the individual.
Also a prenatal baby cannot develop nicely from his/her conception due to malnourishment of the mother. S/he has unhealthy environment after his/her postnatal life. Due to poor maternity services, many infants die. Whenever infants fall sick, they cannot be treated properly due to lack of hospital, health center, etc. Due to these various problems child mortality rate is high in our country.

The following things need to be done to improve the health condition of the people living in rural areas of Nepal:

  • Health posts, health centers and hospitals should be established according to demography.
  • Transportation facilities and other facilities should be provided so that they will have easy access to reach the hospital.
  • Awareness should be generated among the people of rural areas so as to make them believe in doctors rather than witch doctors.
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