Early initiation of community-based programmes in Nepal: a historic reflection.

Community-based programmes have long been an integral part of Nepal's health sector strategy and has contributed to the progress seen in maternal and child health. This paper reviews three early community-based programmes - the acute respiratory infection programme and its evolution to the fully scaled-up community-based integrated management of childhood illness programme, the national vitamin A programme and the female community health volunteer programme - and how the Government of Nepal rapidly accepted them to address pressing maternal and child health issues in an evidence-informed manner, moving rapidly from research to feasibility studies, to implementation and scale-up.