The project comes 12 years after an earlier effort to handover 1,433 public health centers, health posts and sub-health posts to the local bodies failed to materialize. [break]
The progress report of the new project that will last till 2012-end will be submitted to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP). If the pilot project succeeds, it will be expanded to other districts as well.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), GTZ, and, World Health Organization (WHO) have given financial assistance to the MoPH to conduct the program.
The project is currently being conducted in Doti, Kailali, Dang, Surkhet and Rasuwa districts.
In 1999, the government had handed over health centers to the local bodies, allowing the latter to formulate plans and implement them. But the ambitious program failed. “The previous handover program was done without much preparation, so the people did not feel ownership,” said Achyut Lamichhane, administrator of the Primary Health Revitalization Division (PHRD) of MoPH.
According to Lamichhane, the PHRD is now working to ensure active participation of the local people in planning and implementation of health programs.
“The handover program of health centers did not succeed, so we started the pilot project in five districts,” he added.
Under the devolution project, local bodies will recruit health workers, and programs will also be decided upon and implemented with the consent of the people as per the local needs.
“The government will provide financial assistance to the programs chosen by the people,” Lamichhane said. The assistance from the government and donor agencies will reach the health centers through the district development committees.
Apart from the pilot project, the government will also continue to run regular health programs.
“Regular health programs will continue. The local body will get additional aid for the public program,” Lamichhane said. The PHRD assume that a Village Development Committee (VDC) will use 200,000 to 300,000 a year under the devolution project. “But if they require more funds, we will provide it. The assistance will be given them without any preconditions,” he added.
The devolution program is aimed at helping the government formulate health policy.
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