Nepal: Urban Health Center, Palpa
912 Woman Receive Antenatal Care: Q1 2018
April 01, 2018
Pragya Gautam
Summary of Activities
The Mother & Child Health Clinic (town clinic) is located at the Palpa District Hospital in Tansen and is open from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, 6 days a week, Sunday through Friday. The clinic has established itself as an accessible, reliable service provider in terms of maternal and child health in Palpa and surrounding areas. The clinic charges a nominal registration fee, and all basic services, such as check-ups, immunizations, and counseling are free. More specialized procedures such as the insertion or removal of an implant or IUCD are provided at affordable rates. People visit the MCH clinic not only for the services it provides, but also for the health education that it continues to disseminate, which helps prevent disease and promote good health for mothers and children. The town clinic also provides training and observation opportunities for nursing students from Tansen Nursing School and Palpa Technical Institute.
The satellite mother and child health clinics operate monthly in the village health posts of Argali and Darlamdanda, working to empower and strengthen these local government health posts by providing orientation and training to health posts’ staff and also by providing much-needed medical equipment so that women and children in outlying areas can access health services that would usually be available only in cities.
The town and satellite MCH clinics are fully dedicated to providing antenatal and postnatal services, as well as growth monitoring of children under 5 years of age and treatment of their ailments according to community-based integrated management of neonatal and childhood illnesses (CB-IMNCI) protocol. The clinic also provides immunization services for infants as per the National Immunization Program (NIP). In terms of reproductive health services, the MCH clinics provide short-term and long-term contraceptives, administered by trained service providers. Another essential service the clinics provide is counseling on the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT) to HIV-positive and vulnerable families.

Results &
ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Children Under 5
Monitoring for Health
The highest number of clients seen at the MCH clinics are children under 5 years of age. Community members have learned that they should be continuously monitoring the growth and development of their children until they are at least 5 years old.
In the first quarter, January–March 2018, 1,075 children were assessed in the MCH clinics. Among them, 854 children were healthy. This shows that the health education and counseling provided at the clinic has been very effective as they apply them in their lives. Among the sick children, they were diagnosed with different problems on the basis of community based integrated management of neonatal and childhood illnesses (CB-IMNCI) protocol and also treated accordingly. Most of the children had upper respiratory tract infections.

Caring for Women
Providing Needed Services
The MCH clinics have gained the goodwill of surrounding communities by providing accessible, effective maternal and child health services. The Mother & Child Health Clinic (town clinic) provides antenatal services to the women of Tansen Municipality and neighboring villages, and due to the high demand for antenatal care in distant rural areas, the MCH clinic in Tansen has extended its ANC program via 2 satellite clinics that are run once a month in the Argali and Darlamdanda VDCs (village development committees) of Palpa District. ANC visits provided to a total of 912 clients. 244 were newly registered cases, while 668 came for a follow-up visit. The clinics also provide DT (diphtheria and tetanus) vaccines to pregnant women twice during their period of pregnancy. This injection is an initiative of the Nepal government to reduce neonatal mortality due to neonatal tetanus.

RMF Visit
Building Cooperation
Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) Program and M&E Coordinator Pragya Gautam paid a visit to the Community Health Department of Palpa in February. Ms. Parbati Gautam, the chief-in-charge of the Community Health Department of the United Mission to Nepal, expressed her gladness that RMF paid a visit. During the meeting, she said that these visits help to strengthen the bond between the two organizations. She also explained the way the support from RMF has been utilized in Palpa. The accountant and internal auditor of the department were also present at the meeting. RMF’s visibility in the MCH clinic, and the reporting pattern were discussed in the meeting. Sister Parbati ensured that they would report in the format discussed in that meeting. They appreciated the visit from RMF, as it worked as a catalyst to enhance the quality of service provided by the MCH clinic.

Background
& Objectives
Background
From June 2016 to July 2018, In June 2016, RMF partnered with United Mission Hospital Tansen’s Community Health Department (CHD) by supporting 3 essential programs for mothers and children under 5 years of age with human resources and administrative expenses.
In 2018, RMF shifted its focus to establishing a new health center in Chyuripokhara village, Tansen municipality, Palpa. RMF Urban Health center offers high quality health services for free, as well as low-cost medicines.
Objectives
- To improve the health status of Palpa residents
- To provide high quality free health services
- To remain alert to the needs of the Palpa community
- To collaborate efficiently with Tansen municipality

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Photos
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Numbers
Served
Quarterly Total
Clinic Services
Counseling and Health Education-1,597 Patients
Antenatal Patients-912
Immunizations Provided-731

More Reports on: Urban Health Center, Palpa Archive
Country Page: Nepal
Initiative Page: Urban Health Center, Palpa