WHO declares Dhulikhel as Asia’s 2nd ‘Healthy City’

By Kedar Timalsina,Banepa, Aug. 29: WHO has declared Dhulikhel Municipality of Kavrepalanchok district as Nepal’s first ‘healthy city’.

WHO representative Suvajee Good announced Dhulikhel as the second-healthiest city in Asia and the first in Nepal during a virtual meeting on Tuesday.

Since 2075 B.S., Dhulikhel Municipality has implemented various programmes to achieve the status. 

Dhulikhel Municipality, which initiated a campaign to become a healthy city, has been monitored by the World Health Organisation since 2021 to achieve the feat.

After two years of continuous monitoring, the municipality has been officially declared Nepal’s first healthy city this year, as stated by Sandeep KC, head of the municipality’s health department.

He stated that UGHW, an organisation working at the Asian level of WHO, had prepared various indicators for healthy cities, and Dhulikhel scored 65.48 points, joining the WHO Healthy City Network.

KC informed that after being recognised as the second healthiest City in Asia and the first in Nepal, the municipality was awarded USD 5,000 for implementing various programmes under the Healthy City initiative. 

While the city was declared a Healthy City on Tuesday, it has been announced that the municipality will receive the official certificate during a special ceremony in the last week of November.

Before declaring Dhulikhel a Healthy City, the WHO monitored and evaluated various indicators, including citizens’ access to health, their participation in health policy-making, political commitment to health, nutrition, child health and innovative health initiatives such as tuberculosis-free and nutrition-friendly programmes, among others.

Local levels like Dhulikhel Municipality, Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Dharan Sub-Metropolitan Municipality and Chandragiri Municipality from Nepal applied to the WHO seeking the status of Healthy City. 

As part of their campaign, Dhulikhel Municipality established a 10-member health volunteer committee, 21 ward-level members, and 33 municipal members, all led by female health volunteers, with 670 citizens participating in the initiative.

The municipality has also initiated several key programmes, including a tuberculosis-free campaign, a transparency dashboard, operational and social assessments of health institutions, health camps with expert doctors for the general population, and a digital health profile system for its citizens, said KC.

Among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the government, Dhulikhel Municipality has achieved progress in four areas: poverty alleviation, quality education, access to quality drinking water and zero carbon emissions.