Research training on non-communicable diseases begins in Ilam

By Our Correspondent,Pasupatinagar (Ilam), July 3: A research campaign for non-communicable diseases is being held in Rong Rural Municipality, Ilam, in collaboration with the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, Teku, the World Health Organisation and the Health Office of the rural municipality.

The first phase of training was given to the health officers of nine health posts within the rural municipality. Chief of the health department of the rural municipality Yuvraj Kafle said that the first phase of training included the identification of the diseases and the process of treatment. The training focused on four main diseases caused by blood pressure including vein disease, diabetes, cancer and respiratory problems.  

The programme is expected to help in detecting diseases at the local level. 

The health officers after the training will be able to go to different villages and detect the patients at the village level, Kafle said.

Out of 753 rural municipalities in the country, Rong Rural Municipality is the first to start the research. To find the patients you have to go to different villages and screen the diseases, said Dr. Sakar Khanal from the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division. He said that patients often tend to hide their disease and refuse to take medicine. 

“To treat the non-communicable diseases it is important to maintain our diet and lifestyle,” Khanal added. 

The director of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Ryal Pokhrel, said the programme would help us understand the condition of non-communicable diseases in the rural municipality. 

The Senior Public Health Officer of the Health Office Ilam, Aditya Shakya, said that the programme would help control and treat non-communicable diseases. The coordinator of the World Health Organisation Office, Koshi Province Dr Sangeeta Rai, Madhes Province Coordinator Dr. Kamlesh Yadav and others facilitated the programme.

The Vice Chairperson of the Rong Rural Municipality, Bishnumaya Khawas said that the rural municipality has separated enough budget for the health sector. The health officer from the municipality will go to their areas to collect the data of the patients with non-communicable diseases and upload them online. The health department head Kafle said that the annual data uploaded will help understand the condition of non-communicable diseases.

The Chairperson of the Rural Municipality Manikumar Shyambole said that the rural municipality in the past had organised similar types of programmes and now with the help of the World Health Organisation it will be easier to carry forward this task. He said the rural municipality is completely devoted to the cause and it will be possible to treat the disease only if we diagnose the disease. 

According to the World Health Organisation, 71 per cent of people in Nepal die because of non-communicable diseases.