Need of The Ministry of Health in Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
Kiran Regmi, Health Secretary, Ministry of Health, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal Meera Upadhyay, National Professional Officer, WHO Country Office Nepal, Lalitpur, Nepal Ehsanullah Tarin, Health Systems Strengthening, Consultant WHO Country Office Nepal, Lalitpur, Nepal Padam Bahadur Chand Advisor, Ministry of Health, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal Senendra Raj Uprety, Ex-Health Secretary, Ministry of Health, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal Susheel Chandra Lekhak, National Professional Officer, WHO Country Office Nepal, Lalitpur, Nepal
Abstract
The constitution of Nepal provides appointing a council of ministers both at federal and provincial levels without defining portfolios. There is a political agreement that MOH will be retained at the federal level. This article draws evidences around the world to meet health needs of Nepalese, the role of provincial ministry of health and coordinating structure at district/local level.
The constitution emphasises on health and pronounced in 46 articles which provides guidance for the creation of federalized governance levels at federal, provincial and local levels. Retaining ministry of health at federal level without creating devolved structure at province and local levels in health sector will create difficulty in translating the spirit of the constitution and may not be effective in addressing health issues nationally and meeting global achievements like SDGs.
It is suggested to establish an elaborate health system accordingly in Nepal to ensure constitutional mandate of health as a basic human right.
VIEW POINT J Nepal Med Assoc 2017;56(206):281-87
JNMA I VOL 56 I ISSUE 206 I APR-JUN 2017
