Officials at PHRD said that the program will be expanded in 500 VDCs of various districts across the country. The office has concluded the audit in over 100 VDCs in the ongoing fiscal year. [break]
In the program, local people, leaders of political parties, teachers, former office bearers of VDCs, rights activists working at local level and female community health volunteers (FCHVs) gathered in a conclave called by health centers like health post or primary health care center (PHCC) of VDCs to discuss about the needs, service delivery system and effectiveness of the overall health programs. They also reviewed the existing approach and successful approaches being used in other sectors.
"They not only voiced complains about shortcomings but also recommend creative suggestions to make the programs more effective," said Madan Kumar Shrestha, a senior public health administrator at PHRD. Shrestha said that the active participation of the locals in decision making helps to promote good governance practice at local level. He said that to make health programs more inclusive, women and members of marginalized communities are also invited. "Representation of all walks of lives in audit is essential to promote local ownership of the program. So their participation is ensured in the audit," added Shrestha. He said that participation of locals in decision making helped health workers in identifying problems and responding in time.
According to Shrestha, the center and the district public health office (DPHO) only provides financial assistance to run the programs. Third parties like Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) working at local level organize the program and recommend the suggestions made by conclave for implementation. Government budget and overall expenditure of the health centers is also made public during the audit. The PHRD and respective DPHOs provide physical support to the health institutions.
The locals also discussed about making conducive environment for health workers to stay at health centers. "We have a lot of success stories of mutual understanding between health workers and locals. Locals have also constructed physical infrastructures for health centers," added Shrestha.
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