Kathmandu, February 21

Nepal’s child health care system is showing promising improvements, according to Nepal Health Facility Survey Report 2015.

The report stated around 85 per cent of health facilities in Nepal offer all basic child health services.

“Basic child health services include outpatient care, routine growth monitoring, and vaccination,” said Dr Dipendra Raman Singh, chief of the Public Health Administration, Monitoring, and Evaluation Division at the health ministry.

The report showed nearly 93 per cent of district and zonal hospitals offer growth monitoring, and 87 per cent offer vaccinations. Outpatient care for children is available in almost all health facilities at least five days a week.

Child health care in Nepal still has a very long way to go. Although most health facilities offer basic health services, only 54 per cent of these have soap and running water. One out of 10 health facilities don’t even have a thermometer, a stethoscope, and a timer.

In Nepal, six vaccines — for BCG, Pentavalent, polio, measles-rubella, pneumococcal, and Japanese encephalitis — are routinely offered by health facilities.