Suchergebnisse

Introduction: Every woman must have safe access to clean water and menstrual products. They have to spend more or less money to buy menstrual products or to alleviate menstrual symptoms. The cost of a menstrual cycle is often associated with period poverty. We found a research gap on this issue. The objective of this study was to find the cost of menstrual cycle and their perceptions on menstrual cost among young Nepali women. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study from 15 August 2019 to 15 February 2020. The total enumeration sampling technique was used to enroll 157 female medical students. Ethical clearance was obtained from institutional review committee of Birat Medical College Teaching Hospital. Open data kit (ODK) collect software was used for data collection. The collected data was extracted in Microsoft Excel 2016 and analyzed by SPSS version 23. Results: Majority (33.8%) had menarche at 13 years and 47.8% had regular menstrual cycle. The total average cost of items used in last menstrual period was NPR 480.41 (NPR 40-1850) and lifetime cost was NPR 219066.96. Sanitary pads/ tampons/menstrual cups etc. should cost less money (85.4%) and tax currently put on it should be removed by government (91.1%) were the perceptions of the participants. Conclusion: Menstrual cycle added additional cost in women's life. Participants perceived that cost is high and it should be tax free. Nepal's constitution already passed sanitation as basic fundamental right. So, the cost of sanitary items needs to be minimized by removing the government tax.

noBackground & Objectives: Preventive, promotive, curative, and rehabilitative health care services depend not only in availability & accessibility of it but also on awareness and attitude of the people and various inter-woven social structure that determines in making choice. The objective of this study was to explore health seeking behavior and utilization of health care services in the rural places in VDCs of Ilam district of Eastern Nepal.Materials & Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in between period of March 25th 2013 to April 10th 2013 Fikkal and Pashupatinagar VDCs in Ilam district with sample of 300 people. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire.Results: One fifth of the populations were found to be seeking traditional healers' service and 80 percent among modern treatment system were relying on private treatment facility for treating sickness. People who had lived more than 20 years in that place and who felt modern health services were costly were likely to use service of traditional healers. Similarly people suffering from chronic illness, having health facility more than 30 minutes and using stretcher or walking as means of transportation were using government health centers more compared to private services.Conclusion: Significant people still use traditional healers' service and the government health facility utilization was low as compared to private. The people living for longer period in that place and having the concept that modern health centers are costly were primary user of traditional healing system. Health facility nearby or people who could afford for automobile travel facilities were using costly private health centers.JCMS Nepal. 2015; 11(2):8-16

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of deaths and disability in Nepal. Health systems can improve CVD health outcomes even in resource-limited settings by directing efforts to meet critical system gaps. This study aimed to identify Nepal's health systems gaps to prevent and manage CVDs. METHODS: We formed a task force composed of the government and non-government representatives and assessed health system performance across six building blocks: governance, service delivery, human resources, medical products, information system, and financing in terms of equity, access, coverage, efficiency, quality, safety and sustainability. We reviewed 125 national health policies, plans, strategies, guidelines, reports and websites and conducted 52 key informant interviews. We grouped notes from desk review and transcripts' codes into equity, access, coverage, efficiency, quality, safety and sustainability of the health system. RESULTS: National health insurance covers less than 10% of the population; and more than 50% of the health spending is out of pocket. The efficiency of CVDs prevention and management programs in Nepal is affected by the shortage of human resources, weak monitoring and supervision, and inadequate engagement of stakeholders. There are policies and strategies in place to ensure quality of care, however their implementation and supervision is weak. The total budget on health has been increasing over the past five years. However, the funding on CVDs is negligible. CONCLUSION: Governments at the federal, provincial and local levels should prioritize CVDs care and partner with non-government organizations to improve preventive and curative CVDs services. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-021-06681-0.