To see, hear, and live: 25 years of the vitamin A programme in Nepal

An anthropological history of Nepal's Female Community Health Volunteer program: gender, policy, and social change

BACKGROUND

Community health workers (CHWs) are central to Primary Health Care globally. Amidst the current flourishing of work on CHWs, there often is a lack of reference to history-even in studies of programs that have been around for decades. This study examines the 35-year trajectory of Nepal's Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs).

METHODS

We conducted a content analysis of an archive of primary and secondary research materials, grey literature and government reports collected during 1977-2019 across several regions in Nepal. Documents were coded in MAXQDA using principles of inductive coding. As questions arose from the materials, data were triangulated with published sources.

RESULTS

Looking across four decades of the program's history illuminates that issues of gender, workload, and pay-hotly debated in the CHW literature now-have been topics of discussion for observers and FCHVs alike since the inception of the program. Following experiments with predominantly male community volunteers during the 1970s, Nepal scaled up the all-female FCHV program in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in part because of programmatic goals focused on maternal and child health. FCHVs gained legitimacy as health workers in part through participation in donor-funded vertical campaigns. FCHVs received a stable yet modest regular stipend during the early years, but since it was stopped in the 1990s, incentives have been a mix of activity-based payments and in-kind support. With increasing outmigration of men from villages and growing work responsibilities for women, the opportunity cost of health volunteering increased. FCHVs started voicing their dissatisfaction with remuneration, which gave rise to labor movements starting in the 2010s. Government officials have not comprehensively responded to demands by FCHVs for decent work, instead questioning the relevance of FCHVs in a modern, medicalized Nepali health system.

CONCLUSIONS

Across public health, an awareness of history is useful in understanding the present and avoiding past mistakes. These histories are often not well-archived, and risk getting lost. Lessons from the history of Nepal's FCHV program have much to offer present-day debates around CHW policies, particularly around gender, workload and payment.

Causes of Moderate to Severe Visual Impairment and Blindness Among Children in Integrated Schools for the Blind and Visiting a Tertiary Eye Hospital in Nepal: The Nepal Pediatric Visual Impairment (NPVI) Study

Purpose

To study the causes of moderate and severe visual impairment (VI) and blindness and its changing trends in Nepalese children.

Patients and Methods

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. Participants, aged 7 to 17 years were recruited from integrated schools for the blind and the outpatient department of a tertiary eye hospital in Kathmandu. VI and blindness were categorized according to World Health Organization (WHO) categories and its protocol for eye examination of children with blindness and VI was followed. Findings were compared to former studies from Nepal.

Results

A total of 200 children were included, of whom 45% had moderate VI, 5% had severe VI, and 50% were blind. Mean age of children with VI and blindness was 11.1 (SD = 3.3) and 12.9 (SD = 3) years, respectively. Forty percent of children with VI and 38% of blind children were female. In our study, retina (39%) and whole globe (32%) were the most common anatomical site of involvement in children with VI and blindness, respectively, while cornea was the most common anatomical site of involvement in former studies. Heredity (43%) was the most common etiological factor although in 24.5% of all children, etiology was unknown. In 43.5% of children, blindness and VI was due to avoidable causes.

Conclusion

In relatively many children, the etiology of VI and blindness could be either prevented or treated. Compared to former studies from Nepal, there is a changing trend in the etiology of severe VI and blindness.

A Review of Vitamin A Supplementation in South Sudan: Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities for the Way Forward

Although South Sudan's vitamin A supplementation program has demonstrated success, vitamin A supplementation remains a critical public health need for young children. How can South Sudan best maintain high vitamin A supplementation coverage for the short to medium term while planning a more sustainable delivery approach for the longer term?

Aim:

To identify vitamin A supplementation (VAS) trends in South Sudan and provide insights to refocus VAS programming vis a vis polio eradication campaigns recently phased out while access to health care, land, food, and markets remain challenging.

Method:

Review of data from survey and coverage reports; review of policy and program documents; key informant responses; general literature search.

Results:

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is likely a severe public health problem among preschool-aged children in South Sudan based on a high under-5 mortality rate (96.2 deaths/1,000 live births) and high levels of undernutrition, infections, and food insecurity. Vitamin A capsules, with deworming tablets (VASD), have been delivered to preschool-aged children during national immunization days (NIDs) for the past decade. Although areas of South Sudan and certain populations continue to have low VAS coverage, when comparing national VAS coverage (reported in the last 6 months) between 2010 and August 2019, a large improvement is noted from 4% to 76%. In 2021, VAS coverage was more than 90% at the national level during 2 stand-alone distribution campaigns. Deworming coverage trends generally mimicked VAS coverage. VAS is provided to postpartum mothers who deliver at health facilities (approximately 12%–25%), but coverage data are not available.

Conclusion:

Twice-yearly VAS should remain a key lifesaving intervention to address VAD, but alternative delivery strategies will be needed. Conducting events, such as child health days, supported by promotional activities or community-based VASD distribution activities for the youngest children and those missed during campaigns, should be considered. For the long term, a hybrid approach targeting underserved areas with mass distribution events while integrating VASD into community-based programs such as quarterly screening for wasting should be tested further and gradually scaled up everywhere as this has the potential to sustainably reach all vulnerable children twice yearly.