Kathmandu, November 13

Health workers from 70 districts across the country have gathered in Kathmandu to discuss issues relating women’s reproductive health.

The three-day fourth national conference on safe motherhood is being jointly organised by the Ministry of Health, Family Health Division and Safe Motherhood Network Federation of Nepal to discuss issues relating to women’s reproductive health.

Inaugurating the conference today, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi admitted that some places of the country still lacked birthing centres, while some existing centres were inaccessible.

“Time has come to launch additional programmes for safe motherhood,” he said. DPM Nidhi also pointed out the need for imparting training on safe delivery to women in places lacking birthing centres.

FHD Director Dr RP Bichchha said the division had been running programmes related to safe motherhood in collaboration with SMNF for two decades.

The conference is organised once every five years.

Founder Chairperson of SMNF and Nepali Congress lawmaker Arju Deuba said the conference would focus on lessons learned after the earthquake as different problems related to the care of pregnant and postnatal women and infants surfaced during earthquake.

On the occasion, 10 government hospitals of Kathmandu as well as district hospitals of 14 quake-hit districts were honoured for their remarkable contribution during the earthquakes last year.

Public health nurses of 70 districts, government officials, representatives of NGOs working in the rural areas and women rights activists, among others, are participating in the conference.