School health in rural Nepal: why and how?

School health has been regarded as a high priority intervention in developing countries from the perspective of donor organizations. This paper aims to show why school health is important from the community perspective as well, and how school health programs should be implemented based on a case study by the School and Community Health Project (SCHP) in Nepal. SCHP conducted a needs assessment using a participatory rural appraisal in 28 rural communities (mean household number: 51; mean population: 352) in rural Nepal. As a result, SCHP found 70% of the target communities regarded schools as the most important institutions in their communities. Then, SCHP initiated two school health programs to meet their needs, a Supportive Healthy Environment Program and Child Initiative Program. The community members welcomed them, and all the schools successfully built toilets and water supply systems, and initiated child club activities, even though the school teachers' commitment was limited.

The need for linking healthcare-seeking behavior and health policy in rural Nepal.

In Nepal, little emphasis has been placed on the need to link healthcare-seeking behavior (HCSB) with health policy. The purpose of this study is to identify the HCSB of 405 households that were randomly selected from 28 communities in a hilly region of central Nepal. In assessing HCSB, we found that some form of illness strikes about 50% of households each year. When rural Nepalese are moderately or severely ill, they seek healthcare from traditional healers first, before visiting other health workers. Mild illnesses are treated at home. To improve the health of the rural population, health planners should recognize these realities and incorporate them into the development of health policies.