Dolpa, August 18

The President Air Rescue Programme, which was launched targeting pregnant and new mothers, is turning out to be effective in the mountainous district of Dolpa.

The programme aims to prevent women from facing untimely death for want of safe motherhood services.

The rescue is free of cost.

Dolpa, a part of Karnali Province, lacks reliable means of road transport.

During the fiscal year 2019- 20, 12 pregnant and post-partum mothers were rescued, Chief District Officer Suresh Sunar said. The figure was higher than those rescued in the previous fiscal year.

Sunar said the programme has been very effective in this remote district and it has helped save lives of many women with life-threatening conditions due to pregnancy and post-delivery related health complications. Health posts in far-flung areas are not in the position to ensure safe delivery as they lack resources and required facilities.

However, people are not aware of the availability of the air rescue facility. “In emergencies, some directly dial up the administration number and some directly visit us and then we proceed towards rescue,’’ according to him. All the rescued women are taken to Surkhet, Nepalgunj and other cities for treatment.

President of local civil society Sher Bahadur Budha said the President Air Rescue Programme is truly effective in a mountainous district like Dolpa which does not have access to quality and advanced health services.

Budha said it requires a large amount of money (may be hundreds of thousands of rupees) if a pregnant woman from the district has to be taken to other districts for treatment at personal expenses in case of complications related to child birth.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 19, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.