Nepal

The patient had recently travelled to Dharan

Kathmandu, July 1

One dengue patient, aged 19, was admitted to Alka Hospital today. Currently residing in Imadol, the patient had a travel history to Dharan. He had arrived in the capital on Thursday.

&The patient had gone to visit his mother in Bhanumarga, Dharan. She was suffering from dengue. We suspect that the infected mosquito bit him there. He was brought to the hospital after he complained of fever,& said a patientrelative.

&We have admitted the patient today. He has been tested positive for dengue, said Dr Nimesh Poudel of Internal Medicine at Alka Hospital.

According to Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, 1,524 people have been infected with dengue till July 1.

&As there are people migrating from Dharan and other dengue affected areas to Kathmandu, there are chances of people suffering from dengue in Kathmandu too.

Kathmandu has always had a favourable environment for mosquitoes that spread dengue,& said Uttam Raj Pyakurel, vector control inspector at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division.

Aedes aegypti mosquito is the primary vector of dengue. The virus is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected female mosquitoes.

Its peak biting periods are early in the morning and in the evening, before dusk.

People suffering from dengue have symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, pain in muscles, bone ache, rashes and back pain.

To help prevent dengue, one should search and destroy mosquitoes and their breeding areas, use nets while sleeping, keep the environment clean and remove water stored in containers and tyres.

The number of dengue cases across the country is increasing day by day.

Around three days ago, a patient was confirmed in Saptakoshi Municipality of Saptari district.

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Kathmandu, July 2

Stakeholders and rights activists today warned that the issue of use of child soldiers during the decade-long Maoist conflict could reach International Criminal Court, if the government and political parties continued to ignore it.

They suggested that domestic issues should be addressed internally, by addressing concerns about disqualified child soldiers through reparation and rehabilitation process.

Advocate Om Aryal said although Nepal was not a party to the International Criminal Court based in Hague, the Netherlands, there were ample grounds on which a case could be filed, as the use of child soldiers in armed conflicts is considered ‘war crime& internationally.

He said this by referring to case of Myanmar in relation to Rohinga refugees.

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KATHMANDU: Nepal, which has played a significant role in advancing the programme of action adopted during the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, has still a long way to go before it can claim to have lived up to the commitments pledged in Cairo, according to stakeholders.

At a time when several countries around the world are opposing the principles of reproductive rights, Nepal has demonstrated its strong commitment to the ICPD vision through the adoption of the Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act in 2018, as a fundamental human right, said UNFPA Representative for Nepal Lubna Baqi.

Talking to THT, Baqi said, &Since 1994 Nepal has played a significant role in advancing the ICPD agenda at national level as well as globally,& adding that Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights Act, was the product of decades of activism from civil society organisations and in particular, womenand youth networks in Nepal.

While acknowledging the progress, Nepal still has a long way to go before it can claim to have lived up to the commitments pledged in Cairo, she said, adding that there was, however, a strong foundation in place in the country based on the new constitution, federalism and commitment to Sustainable Development Goals that must shape how the unfinished business of the ICPD Programme of Action will be addressed in the coming years.

As real reproductive choices have become a reality for more women and girls in Nepal, they are making individual choice to avoid an unplanned pregnancy and safeguard their health and well-being.

Millions of women in Nepal are exercising their rights to make decisions about their own bodies, including whether, when, and how many children to have.

&It is a reflection of the very high level of political support in the country for safeguarding reproductive rights. Therefore Nepal has an important role to play in the upcoming Nairobi Summit in sharing its success story and reinvigorating the global commitment to the full and accelerated implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action,& the UNFPA representative said.

According to the UNFPA, the world is committed to achieving the SDGs by 2030, but this cannot be done without the ICPD agenda. &The governments of Kenya and Denmark, and UNFPA are co-convening the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 in Nairobifrom 12 to 14 Novemberwith its goal to elicit commitments to end preventable maternal deaths, eliminate unmet need for modern contraceptive methods, and end gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls, as an indispensable part of Agenda 2030.

The Nairobi Summit will also provide an inclusive platform for member states and a broad range of stakeholders to come together around the universally applicable principle of rights and choices for all, the UN- FPA added.

&We hope that a strong national delegation will represent Nepal in the Nairobi Summit as the summit will be a springboard for governments, businesses, foundations and other organisations to announce their commitments at the global, national and local levels to help accelerate further progress,& Baqi said.

According to her, each member state, including Nepal, will share its commitments towards achieving full and accelerated implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action at Nairobi Summit and this will be a unique opportunity to bring new energy for the Cairo vision and help improve the status of women, girls and their families.

WHAT&S CHANGEDSINCE THE CAIRO CONFERENCE

• The pregnancy-related mortality ratio has come down from 660 (1995) to 258 (2015).
• The births attended by skilled health personnel has gone up from 9% (1996) to58% (2016).
• Thetotalfertilityratehasdecreasedfrom4.6(1996)to2.3(2016).
• The adolescent fertility rate has decreased from 127 (1996) to 88 (2016).
• The modern contraceptive prevalence rate has gone up from 26.0% (1996) to 43.0% (2016).
• Unmet need for family planning has slightly dropped from 24.6% (2006) to 23.7% (2016).

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Despite the remarkable progress, millions of women and girls in Nepal still cannot exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights:

• In Nepal, 239 mothers die for every 100,000 births. Many more suffer from injuries and chronic disability incurred during childbirth. This is long way from the global target set in 1994 to reduce maternal deaths to fewer than 75 per 100,000 live births, and the Agenda 2030 target of 70.
• About 1.5 million currently married women in Nepal who would like to control their own fertility still do not have access to modern contraceptives. Without this access, they lack the power to make decisions about their own bodies, including whether or when to become pregnant. The lack of this power—which influences so many other facets of life: education,income, safety—leaves women and girls unable to shape their own futures.
• Still 22 per cent of women in Nepal age 15-49 have experienced physical violence since age 15 and 7 per cent have ever experienced sexual violence.

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Kathmandu, July 2

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has laid emphasis on formulation of plans for utilisation of human resources in the county.

Addressing the 20th general assembly of Pokhara University in Baluwatar today, he directed the university to develop necessary plans with recommendations on how the countryhuman resources could be utilised in the domestic market.

&Nepal has adequate human resources for its development, but brain drain is a serious challenge due to unemployment. Even educated people are jobless,& PM Oli said. He directed the university to prepare a plan as to what kinds of skills and education should be imparted to students to ensure that the country doesn&t suffer brain drain in the future.

&All universities in the country have to formulate plans to stop foreign migration of human resource they produce. Nepal is a land of scholars since ancient period.

Sages of ancient period gained knowledge in this land. Nepal lacked behind later in the sector of education due to lack of visionary rulers,& he said.

PM Oli said many educated people in the country had been unemployed due to lack of coherence between the countryneeds and the degree they earned. &Investment should be made only in that sector of education which guarantees employment,& he said.

He instructed universities to grant affiliation to new colleges only after analysing their academic programmes and employment prospects of the graduates they produce.

&I request you to put an end to the practice of granting affiliation to colleges without any research and study, thereby contributing to the increase in the number of educated unemployed people in the country,& he said.

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