Nepal’s Nuwakot gets its first earthquake-resilient health post
As Nepal marks three years since the devastating 2015 earthquake, the people in Belkot municipality in Nuwakot celebrated the opening of a brand new, earthquake-resistant and disabled-friendly health post, equipped with a birthing facility.
State Minister for Health and Population Padma Kumari Aryal inaugurated the newly build Belkot Health Post on Tuesday in Belkot, Nuwakot.
Nepal’s health sector faced a huge loss as thousands of health facilities in the villages and towns were damaged by the powerful 2015 earthquake, jeopardizing the delivery of health services in all the quake-affected districts. There are still hundreds of health facilities waiting to be rebuilt.
The Belkot health post is one of the 10 health posts being constructed by UNDP in Nuwakot under the coordination of the Health Ministry and with the funding from the Korean Government. These health post buildings, built based on modern Korean technology, are anticipated to last for more than 30 years. According to the Health District health officials, construction of rest of the nine health posts will be complete in the next few months, and will directly benefit over 28,000 people in the district.
The Belkot health post and all other nine health posts under construction are disabled friendly and there is a provision for birthing center. Taking into consideration the importance of safe disposable of hospital waste, all the health posts are well equipped with hospital waste management system and health post staff were trained on safe waste management.
On the same day, State Minister Aryal and Korean Ambassador also laid the foundation stone of Trisuli Hospital Nuwakot building being constructed by the Ministry with Korean support. “There has been a significant progress in the post-earthquake reconstruction. We are thankful to all our supporters who have helped us bring smiles to the faces of people through their crucial support in the reconstruction of health post and other public infrastructure,” said Aryal.
Opening the fully furnished health post in Belkot, Korean Ambassador Park Young-sik said he is hopeful that the newly built health post will make health services more accessible to the local people. The health post reconstruction process also included training of local masons on safer reconstruction and a cash-for-work scheme that involved more than 600 local people on temporary employment, said to UNDP’s Deputy Country Director Sophie Kemkhadze.