Background

General health camp for NELUMBO, NEPAL is one of the prominent programs under the project Community Health, Education, and Environment. It was the very first program with which NELUMBO, NEPAL started its journey of serving the needy and marginalized people in the community. Through these health camps NELUMBO, NEPAL aims to serve those people who are marginalized and unreached, living in rural parts of Nepal. These health camps are mobile and short-term medical interventions for target communities with little to no access to advanced healthcare services. They are organized regularly to meet the general and specific needs of communities. These health camps offer both preventive and primary health care as well as specialized care for various diseases. Various departments like Gynecology, Orthopedics, Urology, ENT, General Medicine, Dental, Pharmacy, Laboratory, USG, ECG, etc. along with awareness programs are set up to provide health services to the people according to their needs and requirements. To this date, NELUMBO, NEPAL has been able to serve thousands of people through this program.

Preparation Highlights

Planning for the campsite and packing of necessary materials like medical items, medicines, safety materials, laboratory items, stationeries, etc. were done a few days before camp. A set-up team consisting of 5 members (Mr. Bhim Prasad Bhandari, Mr. Rabi Gurung, Ms. Nirmala Devkota, Ms. Shamika Basnet, and Mr. Rupesh Gurung) was formed; who were responsible for setup and overall management of the camp. All the materials were packed inside tin trunks and cardboard with proper labeling of the list of items that were packed inside.

The setup team traveled to the campsite with all the logistics and materials one day prior, to complete all of the setup and management for the camp. As the camp was to take place at Mijure Health Post of Madi Rural Municipality-09, necessary cleaning and setup for the camp were done with the help of local volunteers. A total of 9 rooms were used for three days of health camp and on the premises of the aforementioned health post, a waiting area was set up where awareness-related audio and videos covering different health topics were being played throughout the camp.

The Medical Team at Camp:

Camp Highlights

NELUMBO, NEPAL conducted a three-day long health camp along with an awareness program at the premises Mijure Health Post of Madi Rural Municipality-09, Mijure in coordination with Health Department of Madi Rural Municipality Office and ward office of Madi Rural Municipality-09, Mijure. The main objective of this camp was to provide general health care services to the local community people of Madi Rural Municipality ward 08 and 09 and other surrounding wards with qualified health professionals. This camp was organized with the main theme of “Identification, prevention, and treatment of chronic diseases”. Along with the treatment and medication services, it was also a means for screening the most prevalent health problems of the local people. Not only the curative part but special emphasis was also given to the preventive aspects of health through awareness programs. Throughout the camp, the awareness program covering a range of health-related topics was displayed using the multimedia approach. All the services provided in the health camp were free of charge to the community people.

The main highlights of the camp can be listed as:

• General Health checkup (General, Ortho, Gynae, Skin, Dental and ENT)
• Dental checkup with the availability of screening, x-ray, scaling, extraction, restoration, etc. services
• Laboratory (blood sugar and urine test)
• USG (Ultrasonography)
• ECG (Electrocardiogram)
• Syringing and Micro-suctioning of ear
• Free medicine distribution
• Awareness Program

Along with the regular check-up, a couple of emergency cases were also treated in the camp which were related to high blood pressure, diabetes, and injuries. Procedures like the treatment of arthritis, emergency treatment of injuries, syringing of ears, micro suctioning of ear, scaling of teeth, tooth extractions, restoration etc. were conducted.

The camp ended on Falgun 07, 2080 (Feb. 19, 2024) with a total registration of 807 among which 41% were male whereas 59% were female. A total of 3463 different services were provided throughout the camp, details of which are shown in Figure 1. Doctors have referred cases that needed further treatment to different hospitals in Pokhara. In total, there were 38 referred cases which were related to ear, dental, gynae, eye, and more. People who cannot afford further treatment due to their economic and social status will be supported by the Medical Charity Fund of the organization after doing the Socioeconomic assessment.

At the camp end, Madi Rural Municipality distributed certificates of appreciation to all the medical and non-medical volunteers who actively participated in the three-day health camp; those certificates were distributed by Mr. Manoj Gurung, Ward Chairperson of Madi Rural Municipality-09 and Mr. Kamal Prasad Gautam, Chief Administrative Officer of Madi Rural Municipality. Overall, the camp was a success as it got positive responses and feedback from the community people, government officials, and the local representatives of the aforementioned wards who attended it.