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In these days of political doom and gloom, there is welcome news about Nepal's health indicators. The World Bank's health assessment of Nepal gives something to cheer about.
Even though Nepal's gross national income (GNI) is three times lower than India's, Nepal's health indicators have surpassed India's when the opposite was true a few decades ago. In 1990 Nepal was behind in every development indicator. This phenomenal improvement appears almost paradoxical, given that Nepal is the poorest amongst the neighboring countries being compared.
The government's health programs and international and national NGO's will be quick to claim credit, but perhaps the contribution from hard-earned remittance sent directly to their families in village Nepal by self-sacrificing Nepalis abroad may well be significant. The improved health indices data is also in keeping with the recent finding, albeit controversial, that Nepal's poverty level may have fallen by about 15 per cent. Levels of poverty and health indices are in general correlated.
Although Bangladesh with somewhat similar GNI outpaces us in most categories, clearly Nepal appears to be the most improved player on the block. Sri Lanka and China are way ahead of us, and in the coming years we need to strive to reach their level.
There is however one area where we fare very poorly: we still have the highest maternal mortality ratio in comparison to our neighbouring countries. Each week 42 Nepali women die in childbirth. Mark Zimmerman, executive director of the Nick Simon's Institute expresses the beginning of this tragedy vividly: "In her home high in the mountains of western Nepal, a woman goes into labour to deliver her first child. She does it the same way that her mother did and her grandmother before her: on the floor, with only a relative to help."
With the newly-trained, more competent, and dedicated skilled birth attendants working in the hills of village Nepal today, hopefully the next World Bank's assessment will show improvements in the maternal mortality ratio as well.
