Rajbiraj, October 26

Without its own building, a health post in Madhupatti VDC, Saptari has been operating from the two rooms of the VDC office itself.

One of the two rooms is used by health post administration while the other room is being used as a godown. Lack of adequate infrastructure has made it difficult to conduct medical check-ups, especially of pregnant women.

The health post provides health services to around 5,000 people of Madhupatti and Daulatpur VDCs. Auxiliary Nursing Midwife Pabitra Shrestha said all patients and other people have to evacuate every time they conduct medical check-ups of pregnant women, sometimes up to four times a day.

The health post has seven staff members including one health assistant, three assistant health workers, two auxiliary nursing midwives, and one office helper. All health workers informed that space crunch had adversely affected service delivery.

The story is the same in over three dozen VDCs in the district. Health posts of VDCs such as Rupnagar, Kamlapur, Jagatpur, Madherapur, Tilathi, Prabaha, and others operate out of dilapidated office buildings not built to deliver health services sans their own buildings.

Acting Office Chief Chhedi Prasad Yadav at the District Public Health Office Saptari said they were having a hard time constructing buildings for health posts for want of space. Yadav said that his office will allocate a budget for office buildings for six health posts.

There are two hospitals, four primary health centres, and 111 health posts in Saptari. A source at the DPHO said health centres have their own buildings.