Nepal Country Office, World Health Organization, United Nations House, Pulchowk, Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Post Box Number 108, Nepal.
Epidemiology and Diseases Control Division, Ministry of Health, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Bull World Health Organ. 2018 Apr 1;96(4):286-291. doi: 10.2471/BLT.17.205666. Epub 2018 Feb 5.
Seven months after the April 2015 Nepal earthquake, and as relief efforts were scaling down, health authorities faced ongoing challenges in health-service provision and disease surveillance reporting.
In January 2016, the World Health Organization recruited and trained 12 Nepalese medical doctors to provide technical assistance to the health authorities in the most affected districts by the earthquake. These emergency support officers monitored the recovery of health services and reconstruction of health facilities, monitored stocks of essential medicines, facilitated disease surveillance reporting to the health ministry and assisted in outbreak investigations.
In December 2015 the people most affected by the earthquake were still living in temporary shelters, provision of health services was limited and only five out of 14 earthquake-affected districts were reporting surveillance data to the health ministry.
From mid-2016, health facilities were gradually able to provide the same level of services as in unaffected areas, including paediatric and adolescent services, follow-up of tuberculosis patients, management of respiratory infections and first aid. The number of districts reporting surveillance data to the health ministry increased to 13 out of 14. The proportion of health facilities reporting medicine stock-outs decreased over 2016. Verifying rumours of disease outbreaks with field-level evidence, and early detection and containment of outbreaks, allowed district health authorities to focus on recovery and reconstruction.
Local medical doctors with suitable experience and training can augment the disaster recovery efforts of health authorities and alleviate their burden of work in managing public health challenges during the recovery phase.
2015 年 4 月尼泊尔地震七个月后，随着救援工作的逐步减少，卫生当局在提供卫生服务和疾病监测报告方面仍面临持续挑战。
2016 年 1 月，世界卫生组织招募并培训了 12 名尼泊尔医生，为受地震影响最严重的地区的卫生当局提供技术援助。这些紧急支持人员监测卫生服务的恢复和卫生设施的重建，监测基本药物的库存情况，促进向卫生部报告疾病监测数据，并协助进行疫情调查。
2015 年 12 月，受地震影响最严重的人们仍居住在临时住所中，卫生服务的提供受到限制，只有 14 个受地震影响的地区中的 5 个向卫生部报告监测数据。
从 2016 年年中开始，卫生设施逐渐能够提供与未受影响地区相同水平的服务，包括儿科和青少年服务、结核病患者的随访、呼吸道感染的管理和急救。向卫生部报告监测数据的地区从 14 个中的 5 个增加到 13 个。报告药品短缺的卫生设施比例在 2016 年有所下降。通过实地证据核实疾病暴发的传闻，并及早发现和控制暴发，使地区卫生当局能够专注于恢复和重建工作。
具有适当经验和培训的当地医生可以增强卫生当局的灾害恢复工作，并减轻他们在恢复阶段管理公共卫生挑战的工作负担。
