|
PSI in Nepal
PSI/Nepal began operations in early 2002
to work in the areas of HIV/AIDS prevention,
child survival and family planning in
support of Government of Nepal’s National
Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention
Strategies. PSI/Nepal’s current portfolio
contains programs in malaria, safe water,
pediatric zinc and fortified complementary
food for young children.
|
Donors
Major donors include the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID), Micronutrient Initiative and United
Nations World Food Program. |
|
Partners
Local partners include the Government of Nepal Ministry of Health and Population,
Department of Health Services, Epidemiology and Disease Control Division and
other local agencies. |
|
Malaria
An estimated 19.4 million people in Nepal are at risk of malaria.
The Government of Nepal and PSI/Nepal work in partnership
to implement malaria prevention and control activities
in 13 high-risk districts. Key activities include increased
awareness among those at risk of malaria; the importance
of early detection, diagnosis, treatment and prevention
services; strengthened partnerships among key players
such as government, private sector and civil society; an increased number
of trained private
sector providers
with the capacity to
quickly detect and
effectively treat malaria
and increased
access to longlasting
insecticide
treated mosquito
nets among families
in target districts. |
|
Child Survival
Safe Water: Access
to safe household drinking water in Nepal
remains low, at only 44%. This problem
translates into a serious public health problem
with one third of deaths of children under the
age of five years due to waterborne diseases
such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, dysentery
and gastroenteritis. To prevent these diseases,
PSI/Nepal is promoting WaterGuard — a
household chlorine water purification solution
which enables parents to effectively purify and
ensure the safety of their family’s water.
Pediatric Zinc: PSI/Nepal addresses the
significant impact of diarrhea on the health
of children through the public-private partnership
introduction of
low-cost pediatric zinc
for children under five.
PSI/Nepal promotes the
use of zinc, along with oral rehydration therapy,
to decrease the incidence
and severity
of diarrheal disease.
Fortified
Complementary
Food: Over 8/10
Nepali children
within the six to
12 month age
range suffer from
iron deficiency
anemia and other
micronutrient
defi ciencies. To address the problem
of malnutrition, PSI/Nepal launched an
affordable, naturally flavored child nutrition
product – Champion Fortified Complementary
Food containing iron, iodine and 10 other
essential vitamins and minerals essential for
early childhood development.
|
|
 |
Health Impact |
| In 2007, PSI/Nepal estimates that it averted over 73,000 episodes of diarrhea and more than 43,000 cases of malaria. |
 |
This young Nepali boy is shown pasting a malaria behavior change poster on the wall of his hut using cow dung as glue. |
|
|
