| Abstract: | Nepal is among the 20 countries with the lowest human development index, according to the criteria of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and has a very high under-five mortality rate, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).1 In December 1992, the Japan Medical Association (JMA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) began jointly carrying out a maternal and child health (MCH) project. Its beneficiaries are the population of Kavre District, the District Public Health Office in Kavre, the Central Region Health Directorate, and the Ministry of Health of Nepal. The MCH project stems from a request to Japan made by His Majesty's Government of Nepal to implement and evaluate a new health system policy in a model area, the Kavre District. The project's main goal is to improve the general health and to reduce the maternal, infant, and under-five child mortality rates by providing basic primary health care services and means of disease prevention. It will improve the government's medical care delivery system, better educate the population and promote community action in questions related to health and hygiene. This is the first cooperative project organized by JICA that involves the participation of a nongovernmental organization, in this case, the JMA. The JMA will construct the primary Health Care (PHC) Center, equip it with a dormitory and safe water supply system, and provide sufficient drugs for 2 years. The Japan International Cooperation Agency will dispatch MCH experts and provide medical equipment and supplies. The government of Nepal will dispatch a medical staff of 12 members, including a medical doctor, nurses, midwives, and laboratory technician, and other assistants as counterparts, and will be supported and monitored by the National Children's Hospital Medical Research Center of Japan. This joint project and new health policy will be evaluated after 2 years to decide whether the new PHC center system should be expanded. |
