Kathmandu, December 24

United Nations Children’s Fund signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health and Population to build 74 disaster-resilient prefabricated health facilities with birthing units to support re-establishment of essential health services in nine earthquake-affected districts.

UNICEF Nepal Deputy Representative, Dr Rownak Khan, and Chief of Policy and Planning and International Coordination Division, MoHP, Mahendra Prasad Shrestha, signed the MoU yesterday.

A statement issued by UNICEF said that these 74 fully equipped structures, worth Rs 235 million (approximately US $ 2.2 million), will be built in Gorkha (12), Dhading (7), Nuwakot (4), Lalitpur (2), Kavrepalanchowk (10), Dolakha (11), Ramechhap (13), Solukhumbu (9) and Okhaldhunga (6).

It said that more than 1,200 health facilities were affected during the earthquakes and more than 80 percent of the completely destroyed health facilities are in the 14 most-affected districts.

“This has taken a toll on the delivery of health services in the districts and also exposed children and women to additional health risks there,” it said, adding, “Thus to respond to the urgent need of restoring back health services in these districts, UNICEF supported the government by providing medical tents that were used as health facilities as well as essential drugs, instrument and equipment immediately after the earthquake.”

UNICEF is now supporting the government to build back better by replacing 74 of these tented health facilities with fully equipped prefabricated structures that are disaster-resilient.