At the end of this month, some of the DFN team are heading to one of Nepal’s most remote communities to deliver specialist medical care to people who would otherwise have no access to it.
In collaboration with the Oda Foundation, we are holding a health camp in Mahawai Rural Municipality, nestled within Kalikot District in Nepal’s Karnali Province.
Mahawai is home to approximately 8,100 residents living at altitude in rugged mountain terrain, where geography itself becomes a barrier to health. Roads are scarce, infrastructure is limited, and the nearest specialist medical services sit days of travel away.
The health post where the camp will be held currently offers generalist care, and its staff work hard within those limitations. But without specialist doctors, entire categories of illness go undiagnosed and untreated, not because patients are not suffering, but because the expertise to identify and address their conditions is not available.
Three Areas of Focus:
Based on a careful assessment of local health gaps, the camp will concentrate on three specialisms:
Obstetrics and Gynaecology: Gynaecological conditions frequently go undetected in communities without access to specialist examination.
Dental Services: Dental infections, left untreated, can escalate into serious and even life-threatening conditions. Without a dentist accessible to this community, problems that could be resolved with early intervention are instead left to worsen over months and years.
Dermatology : Chronic skin conditions are among the most common yet most persistently unmanaged health burdens in isolated mountain communities. A dermatologist at the camp will be able to diagnose and begin treatment for conditions that residents may have been living with for years.
Working Together
The camp will be delivered by members of our DFN team (doctors and nurses) working alongside local health specialists. Sustainable impact in communities like Mahawai comes not only from the care delivered during the camp itself, but from the knowledge-sharing and relationships built between visiting and local practitioners.
We are grateful to the Oda Foundation for their partnership in making this camp possible, and to the local health teams who will be working alongside us.
Follow our news page for an update from the camp when our team returns!