INF’s Maternal Neonatal & Child Health [MNCH] Project [funded by Health Bridge Canada through Global Affairs Canada] could not operate without its primary workforce of Female Child Health Volunteers [FCHV]. FCHV’s are local health resource persons who provide community-based health education and services in rural areas, with a special focus on maternal and child health and family planning. Their role is vital in providing support and education to women in the nine Village District Commitees [VDCs] of Banke District where MNCH is being implemented.
Equipping FCHV’s in order to achieve the MNCH goal of “Contributing to the reduction of maternal and child mortality in targeted regions of Nepal” is an important factor to its success. A key stride forward was made recently as INF distributed its last lot of bicycles and mobile phones to FCHV’s in the community.
The purpose of the bicycles and mobile phones? Faster access and communication to link women in the communities to the various health institutions during their time of need. It is hoped that precious time can be saved through earlier notification and access to the women, thus helping to reduce the maternal, neonatal and child death rates in these areas which are often remote and where women have difficulty accessing the few centres that offer essential health services.
With bicycles now allowing more people to be reached each week, it is hoped that this initiative will also contribute to increased utilisation of government and MNCH health services in each community, particularly by mothers, pregnant women, newborns and children under two.
In total, 132 FCHV’s across the nine VDC’s [Baijapur, Binauna, Phattepur, Gangapur, Matehiya, Narainapur, Kalaphata, Laxmanpur and Katkuiya] in the Banke District each received a bicycle and mobile phone in a formal presentation with representatives from the local government on 6 October. During the presentation, government officials praised INF for its continuing good work amongst the community.
Of course, the FCHV’s are also very pleased with their new bicycles and mobile phones. A small investment that will hopefully go a long, long way to reduce the rate of maternal and child mortality in the Banke District of Nepal.