BMS World Mission

Diarrhoea outbreak in Nepal

27/08/2009

 

Ian Chadwell, a BMS worker in Nepal, describes the plight of poor communities in the Mid West being affected by a serious health epidemic - and how Christians are responding.

Reading the newspapers in Nepal has been discouraging these past few weeks. There has been plenty of coverage in the UK press about the visit of Joanna Lumley to Nepal, but you will not have heard this one.

Reports started appearing in early August about an outbreak of diarrhoea in the Mid West region. It is a very remote and poor area.

As the weeks have passed, the outbreak is now reported to include cholera and the situation has deteriorated as the affected area grows.
Credit: David Swanson/IRIN Credit: Naresh Newar/IRIN
Serious
One of the hospitals run by BMS partner, Human Development & Community Services (HDCS) lies not too far from the most badly affected districts. The hospital ward has been full of severely ill patients, some of whom have travelled several days to get there.
Chaurajahari Chaurajahari
Health camp registration Health camp registration
Most of you reading this will not understand how this can be so serious. Diarrhoea is a source of embarrassment or amusement. You probably do not know anyone who died from it. But for the people of rural Nepal, it is still a real threat to health and even life itself.
Credit: Naresh Newar/IRIN Credit: Naresh Newar/IRIN
A few days ago, a team of staff from Chaurajahari Hospital travelled to a village in the affected part of Rukum, two days walk from the hospital.

They have since been joined by more Christian health workers and are now providing a camp in a village. Another team of Christians is going into Bajhura district in the Far West.

Other teams have played their part, but as far as we are aware this the first time a Christian team has responded to a situation like this.
"Dr Thakur maintained that the diarrhoea epidemic in Rukum had hit the Dalits (low caste) the hardest. The Dalits comprise six per cent of the district's population, but 52 per cent of the dead were from this community."(Kathmandu Post, 13 August)
Significant
The response of the Nepali Christian community to this epidemic has been encouraging. A group of church leaders and Christian professionals met and planned to send teams of Christian health professionals (doctors, nurses and others) to provide free treatment and give important messages about health education. Churches have contributed financially.

The logistics of taking a team into such a remote area in the monsoon, when the roads are impassable, takes some organising but the very fact that Christians are even able to consider this is significant.
Credit: Naresh Newar/IRIN Credit: David Swanson/IRIN
Until recently there would not have been enough Christians in these professions to make this viable. There were simply not enough Christian doctors for instance. Now there are Nepali Christians who see this as a valid expression of their mission.
Please pray for:
  • Efforts to control the cholera/diarrhoea outbreak
  • Nepali Christians making a positive contribution - especially for Dr Indra Napit, chair of the Nepal Christian Medical and Dental Association
  • The safety and health of the team members
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