UK to provide 85 mn pound to Nepal for health sector reforms

The UK has signed an agreement with Nepal to provide 85 million pounds for reforms in the health sector to help women, children, poor and the marginalised sections of the country.
The UK aid support will help improve the health of women, children, the poor and the marginalised in Nepal, according to a statement by the UK Embassy here.
The support includes restoring health services in areas affected by the last year's twin earthquakes, building on similar support offered post-earthquake, and improving the quality and governance of health services nationwide.
The UK will provide 85 million pound over 4.5 years (Jul 2016 - Dec 2020) to support the delivery of Nepal government's Nepal Health Sector Strategy 2015-2020.

Under the agreement, 57 million Pound will be as Financial Aid to the Department of Health and 28 million pound as technical assistance. Of the 85 million Pound, 20 million will support the retrofitting and rehabilitation of hospitals in earthquake-hit and at-risk areas.
Department for International Development (DFID) Nepal's strategy of combining financial aid and evidenced- based policy dialogue, with strong technical support on a focused set of health and governance issues has been instrumental in supporting the Nepal government to deliver impressive improvements in health outcomes, particularly among women and children.
"Health is an area of success in Nepal. The Ministry of Health has made huge gains especially in child and maternal mortality and we are proud to have been supporting the Ministry for the last 17 years as it did this," said Gail Marzetti, Head of DFID Nepal.

"Investing in health contributes to a reduction in poverty and ensures that people are better able to benefit from economic growth," the statement said.