NGOs and local governments in Nepal team up to deliver health services in remote areas

NGOs and local governments are filling the gaps left by the national health systems in Nepal, especially in rural areas. As the demand for independent mobile health camps increases, questions arise about the central government’s capacity to deliver on people’s right to health.

Last winter, two government health assistants who usually leave Limi Valley before it gets snowed in for the winter stayed put to provide services to residents. The only health workers in the remote community in Nepal’s northwest Humla district bordering Tibet, they remained at their posts thanks to a salary top-up of US$150 per month by the NGO Ek ek paila (EEP).