Kathmandu, Apr. 7:  Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said economic diplomacy has become an integral part of our foreign policy.

Mr Koirala made this remark while addressing a reception held in honor of honarary consuls of  Nepal at the Prime Minsiters residence in Baluwatar today.

Stating that democracy does not flourish in poverty and so we are making all possible efforts to alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions of our people, Mr Koirala expressed confidence that trade and commerce plays a key role in uplifting the economy of a nation.

Globalization may have certain benefits for Nepal but it may also put us in certain difficulties, he said, adding our ability to compete in the global free market is not at  par with that of the developed nations.

Noting that Nepal is not very well known around the world as yet and that is because it remained isolated from the rest of the world for a century until 1950, the Prime Minsiter said that even when it opened its door to the international world, the process of our communication  was rather slow during the last 50 years.

Thanks to the  revolution in communication technology, we are on the internet, he further said.

On the occasion, the consuls and consul generals had presented their suggestion and opinions to the Prime Minsiter.

Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi   who is also looking after the foreign affairs portfolio, Minister for Industry and Commerce Ram Krishna Tamrakar, Minister of State for Industry and Commerce Narendra Bikram Nemwang and senior officials at the Ministries of Industry and Commerce, and Foreign Affairs were also present on the occasion.

Leaders look back at their lapses and think aheadKathmandu, Apr. 7:Nepal’s experience of the first decade of parliamentary democracy has been mixed —  pleasant in some ways, but less than satisfactory in others.

The first 10 years have been fruitful in terms of parliamentary exercises, while the delivery of goods was short of popular expectation or aspirations, said the Nepalese leaders who spearheaded the Popular Movement of 1990 that culminated in the restoration of multiparty system in Nepal.

An honest and result oriented attempt was required to fulfil the expectations of the people, they told an interaction coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the democratic struggle that intended to review the progresses made and the road ahead.

The leaders termed the lack of political culture and morality and the erosion of firm will power as some of the shortcomings that had surfaced in the past and said that the practice now onwards of value-based politics would help consolidate democracy by setting the nation on the path envisaged by the Constitution.

“The popular aspirations remained unmet due largely to the visionlessness of the political parties which were instrumental in the restoration of democracy in 1990,” said Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. “The political parties knew democracy was their single-point agenda, but did not know what next or after that.”

Political players focussed their attention on strengthening their organisational base in the days after the advent of democracy, neglecting the popular aspiration which in fact had trebled, he said.

However, there have been significant achievements in the fields of education, health, roads and infrastructure. “Not that there was no development at all, it’s only that the pace was rather slow,” He said. “Unless we expedite the pace of development, we can not fulfill the popular expectations.”

“Proportionate development of the country is possible only through decentralisation,” Koirala said. “We need separate strategies for separate geographical locations such as the hills, the mountains and the lower plains.”

Koirala reiterated maintaining law and order, curbing corruption and good governance with adminsitrative reforms were at the top of the government’s agenda. “The Maoist problem is related with the issue of law and order and we need to intervene in the affected areas with development and income generating activities.”

Both bigger and smaller political organisations play equally important role in a democracy, he said. “The government is serious about issues like Maoist problems and the Kalapani issue which affect nationalism.”

“All national problems should be solved through consensus and the government is determined to forge broader understanding, if need be,” he said.

Speaker Taranath Ranabhat said the Monarchy and the people had played a continuous role along the path as envisaged in the Constitution, but the political parties had failed to play an honest role in that direction. “The political parties should take poverty seriously,” he said. “More seriousness is required on part of the Nepali Congress by virtue of it being in the power.”

With the victory over the Panchayat System, the political parties have won the battle of principles, he said. “Now they should direct their attempts against the practical difficulties to provide the people with the supplies they need.”

Some of the democratic exercises of the past are positive, he said adding the increase in the number of the Prime Minister and the ministers was not a good gesture.

Leader of the main opposition party in the House of Representatives Madhav Kumar Nepal said effective steps and strategies were needed in the days ahead to rectify the weaknesses seen in the past.

“Corruption has increased and the ruling party has taken absolute control of the government while broader welfare of the people in general remained neglected,” he said. “Since the Nepali Congress has been in power most of the time since the restoration of democracy, that party should shoulder the bigger part of responsibility for it all.”

The fruits of democracy should be directed to the people, in the absence of which the radical activities that have increased in the past may pose serious threats to the decade old system, he said.

“There is no alternative to multiparty democracy,” he said. “The so-called desire of the Maoists to establish one party system can not be an alternative to the multiparty politics.”

Former prime minister and the President of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Surya Bahadur Thapa said that the Popular Movement of 1990 invested sovereignty in the people and that the constitutional and democratic exercises were achievements in themselves adding that some problems gathered complications during this period. Citing the government’s failure to fulfil peoples aspirations, deteriorating peace and security situation and increasing corruption, Thapa said that these problems could not be solved by any one political party.

Thapa called for a total restructuring in governance and said that a consensus was necessary to solve the problems facing the nation.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) Bamdev Gautam said the political change of 1990 has failed to bring about corresponding changes in social and economic fronts. “Becoming an MP or a minister is not an achievement in itself,” he said. “We have to look for how these changes have affected the people on the whole.”

Gautam said the reactionary forces which tried to keep the leftist forces off the power had failed to carry out works in favour of the people and the country on the whole. “There have been treaties that are against the national interest.”

Various intellectuals have expressed different views on the achievements and negative aspect of 10 years of  restoration of democracy in the country.

They were of the view that the country noticed many positive changes and few anomalies and aberrations in the past 10 years. All political parties should now make a self assessment and maintain a national consensus in the future to find solutions to the problems being faced by the country, they added.

Speaking at a talk programme on “10 years of restoration of democracy in the country: shortcomings, achievements and destination” organised by the Reporters’ Club Nepal here today, the speakers also stressed the need for everyone to unite in order to institutionalise democratic norms and values, and bring radical changes in the socio-economic and political sectors of the country.

Expressing his view at the programme, Nepali Congress spokesman Narahari Acharya said during the past 10 years the parliament has not been able to reach the depth of resolving national problems, the tendency of criticizing one another and going to the judiciary over public issues has been on the rise, the relations and talks between political parties has increased and civic society has been more conscious than the political parties.

He pointed out the need to enhance the reliability of elections and supremacy of the parliament, formulate laws relating to constitutional council, improve the style of working and emphasize regional structures for overall development of the country.

CPN-UML standing committee member Jhalanath Khanal said the achievement made after the popular movement is the biggest achievement made by Nepal in the 20th century. Though some progress was made during this period, the country has not seen much progress due to lack of development programmes in pursuance of a new approach, he added.

In absence of a balanced foreign policy the country could not receive much cooperation from neighbouring countries, Mr Khanal said, adding that all political parties should assess themselves and follow the constitutional path towards wiping out anomalies and aberrations existing in the country.

Vice-president of rpp Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani said as the people are the constitutional source of governance, the political parties should not use them as a commodity during elections only.

Pointing out the need for a provision which to fulfill shortcomings in democratic principles and practices, and discourage misuse of power, Dr. Lohani expressed the view that appointment of constitutional council should be transparent, the local bodies should be provided powers and the government and opposition should work together to solve problems of the nation.

Cpn-ml leader Devi Prasad Ojha said political leaders lack honesty, the law and order situation is deteriorating in the country, corruption has reached the villages and foreign intervention is on the rise.

Rpp spokesman Kamal Thapa suggested that the problems of the socio-economic and political sectors should be solved collectively, transparency and good governance should be maintained, election procedures should be reformed and social politicization put to an end.

Prof. Lokraj Baral said even if the system is good it cannot improve the living standard of the people unless it is run properly, the political parties lack able leadership and the country has not made much progress in the past 10 years.

From the chair, senior advocate Biswakant Mainali also shed light on the positive and negative aspects of the 10 years of restoration of democracy in the country.

Kathmandu, Apr. 7:The Ministry of Finance today organised a meeting between senior government officials and the donor community based in Nepal to discuss the reform and poverty reduction agenda to be discussed at the upcoming Nepal Development Forum in Paris, April 17-19, 2000.

In his keynote address to the meeting, Minister for Finance Mahesh Acharya said in order to give the people means of livelihood and a sense of justice, a fundamental change in the planning process and development outcome is required. He said foreign aid has to be linked with development strategies and priorities in order to help achieve development goals and that aid effectiveness has to be enhanced by ensuring local ownership.

“If view of the country’s sizable debt burden and ever increasing level of debt servicing requirements, the country is in an urgent need to repriotise its sectors to be financed by domestic external resources,” Minister Acharya said.

Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Mr. Prithivi Raj Ligal presented the government’s poverty reduction strategy. He said Nepal’s experience illustrates the positive impact of growth in poverty alleviation. “A development strategy that provides benefits that can be spread across all income groups including poor segments of society will  have two major components – First agriculture must be targetted to grow by at least 4-5 per cent and second, private sector-led growth must be further emphasised,” he said.

The World Bank Country Director for Nepal, Mr. Hans Rothenbuhler said the need of the hour is a clear, well focussed and relatively simple and straightforward action agenda, specifying the priority measures the government thinks that it should and can take over the next six to twelve months.

Mr. Henning Karcher, the UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal, stressed the need to make clear linkages between peace, security and development. “Peace and development are two sides of the same coin,” he said.

The meeting then discussed the Priority Reform Actions presented by Mr. Madhav P. Ghimire, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. The agenda defines the reform actions in the areas of macro-economic and fiscal structure, private sector development, financial sector reform, decentralisation, governance, civil service reform, aid effectiveness and the role of civil society. It outlines the reform actions in terms of focus, outcomes expected and status. Donor representatives present at the meeting commended His Majesty’s Government for adopting an open and consultative process to define the agenda and underscored the need for further focus and prioritisation in the agenda.

Ambassador of Japan Mr. Mitsuaki Kojima said Nepal’s poverty reduction strategy should pay due attention to reproductive health and family planning in order not to negate economic growth.

Mr. Richard Vokes, the Asian Development Bank Resident Representative in Nepal, said that Nepal should first start with the most pressing but relatively easier reform actions in a framework that defines short-term, medium-term and long-term reform goals.

Ms. Ingrid Ofstad, Norway’s Charge d’Affaires to Nepal, said reform actions are universally painful and that the government should try to forge broad partnerships to push the reform agenda forward.

Mr. Anton Hagen, Representative of the Swiss Development Cooperation in Nepal, defined good governance as the most urgent and overriding of Nepal’s reform priorities. If Nepal could achieve positive results in this area, many other reform goals will have been met.

Ms. Sue Wardel, representative of the UK’s Department for International Development said it would be important for Nepal to embark on it’s  reform programme with some symbolic measures to demonstrate that it is indeed serious about reforms. She said the role of the donor community should be one of a facilitator and purveyor of quality aid.

Wrapping up the discussion Minister Acharya said although the reform agenda outlined appears ambitious, work is already underway in many sectors. He said that the government would narrow down the agenda to give it more focus and clarity in terms of sequencing ahead of the Nepal Development Forum Meeting in Paris.

Delivering the vote of thanks, Special Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Mr. Bimal Koirala said the preparatory process had been a productive and thoroughly engaging one for both the government and civil society contributors.

Today’s meeting is a culmination of a month-long preparatory process that sought input and feedback from a wide range of stakeholders from civil society. Earlier, the Ministry of Finance hosted a kick-off meeting between HMG Secretaries inviting their input for the agenda and programme to be discussed at the Nepal Development Forum. Over the month of March, the Ministry of Finance organised three separate interactions with civil society, the private sector, development professionals and academia to discuss a range of issues affecting Nepal’s development agenda, including governance, decentralisation, private sector development and financial sector reform and the role of civil society.

At  today’s meeting donors reiterated their willingness to continue support and enhance assistance for HMG programmes that are results-oriented, prioritised and realistic.

The following is the full text of Minister Acharya’s speech: It is indeed a matter of great pleasure for me to welcome you all here in this meeting and share with you our views on development challenges and our policies and priorities to address them. The interaction programmes that we had organised recently and the meeting that we are having today would, I hope, help in developing a common understanding and reform actions for the development of Nepal.

Nepal’s problems, as you all are quite familiar, are the acute poverty, higher under-employment, traditional agriculture, backward rural economy, and largely unsatisfactory socio-economic development indicators. Problems like the developmental inequalities across the geographic regions, social and gender differences, rural-urban gap, fragmented markets, and inadequate physical and social infrastructure are other challenges to development. The trend of low economic growth, volatility in price situation, higher population growth, low per capita income and narrow export sector are the other problems. The objective of mobilising more resources domestically, especially in view of the existing low taxable capacity and the requirements of the objectives of stability and discipline with respect to the domestic loans, are also not less daunting.

Addressing the problems like the weak structure of the Nepalese economy, inadequate level of socio-economic infrastructure, lower economic growth rate, high poverty and under-employment, and other major areas require large resources and their efficient investment. With an average saving level of 12% and investment level of 22.7% of GDP during the period FY 1995/96 through FY 1998/99, the resource gap of 10.7% had to be met through foreign resources. The growth rate that was achieved during this period averaged 4.2%, the agriculture by 3% and the non-agriculture by 5%. This underscores the increased importance of efficient investments to realise a satisfactory rate of economic growth.

You all would appreciate that, while the difficulties are formidable, the options and alternatives available for the government are not comfortable either. The government account in Nepal is heavily indebted as its external outstanding debt burden as of mid-July 1999 remained at 2.9 times the total expenditure of the government during FY 1998/99. This debt stock/GDP ratio reached 54.5% in mid-July 1999 and, as percentages of the  external debt stock, total export represented 20.9% and government revenue 21.4% in FY 1998/99. Revenue increases in the government are not enough and have generally failed to keep pace with the increasing requirements for larger capital expenditures. In view of the increasing debt-servicing obligations and the compulsion to provide additional security-related expenses, more resources in the  future need to be earmarked for the regular expenditures. This will lead to smaller share of the resources for financing developmental activities like agricultural and rural development along with the specific programmes of poverty alleviation, unless other financing means are available for these purposes.

You may kindly recall that, in spite of various policy pronouncements and reform measures that have been introduced in the past, the outcome has at the best concentrated in a few urban centres of the country. A large segment of the people dwelling mainly on the remote and difficult terrain has yet to be encompassed by this process. As a result, even the development expectations that these people have aspired in the wake of political change have remained unfulfilled. A sense of frustration and despondency that are so visible in the society are the results of the dream that has yet to come true.

While formulating development agenda for Nepal, we have to take into consideration the fundamental settings of the country, such as mass poverty, poor resource base, a difficult geographical terrain and a poor service base coupled with rising expectation but limited delivery capacity.

In order to give the people means of livelihood and also a sense of justice, a fundamental change in the planning process and development outcome is required. Agriculture has to be made more productive and additional employment opportunities have to be created outside the farm. At the same time, programmes such as skill development, credit availability, social mobilisation, population control, women empowerment, rural electrification, environment protection and legal provision against various exploitation of weaker sections of the society need to be implemented as important measures towards poverty reduction.

On the macro economic front, the various reform measures that were introduced towards the beginning of the last decade need to be consolidated and a number of essential reform measures would be implemented with a sense of urgency. The reform agenda would, inter alia, concentrate on the areas of civil service and financial sector reforms.

With the objective of delivering a clean, capable and corruption-free administration, all the related administrative procedures have to be made transparent and an effective monitoring and evaluation system has to be enforced to comply with the specified standards, guidelines and provisions. Civil service has to be made more service-oriented and competent to confront with growing challenges by means of devising its perspective vision as well as a personnel policy based on sound administrative principles. Administration need to be strengthened for ensuring good governance and efficient development management. Local leadership should have to be made accountable for development works by strengthening local self-governance system. Public resource management has to be made expedient and effective, and the concepts of the rule of law and the enlarged role of the civil societies need to be promoted. In order to attain these objectives, the recommendations of the Corruption Control Commission would be implemented and the constitutional and administrative arrangements built for controlling corruption would be made more focused, professional and effective.

The financial sector reform strategy should ensure that banks are owned and managed by private investors and professionals. The capability of the central bank for effective supervision of banking and non-banking financial institutions has to be enhanced. The existing legal and judicial processes for enforcing financial contracts should be improved. Similarly, financial discipline based on adequate provisions of disclosure and competition-oriented policies have to be promoted. The government would re-orient its activities from being active participant in the financial system toward being strong regulator and supervisor of the overall financial system. Reforming the financial sector legislation, strengthening its inspection and supervision, privatising government-owned commercial and development banks, enhancing competition by encouraging more investments in the banking sector, reforming accounting and auditing system, reducing the directed/subsidised lending, and expanding the capital markets remain the important ingredients of the reform agenda in the financial sector.

As result of the priority given for macroeconomic soundness with emphasis on fiscal and monetary pragmatism, improved foreign exchange and trade regime, domestic and foreign investment promotion coupled with suitable administrative and legislative measures, the private sector in Nepal is expected to make a vibrant growth and contribute significantly to attain a sustainable development pattern.

The overall objectives of the foreign aid policy shall be to gradually attain the self-reliance on the economic resource requirements by means of attaining sustained, accelerated growth and poverty alleviation through the efficient and effective utilisation of foreign aid.

Aid effectiveness has to be enhanced by ensuring local ownership. In view of the country’s  sizeable debt burden and ever increasing level of debt servicing requirements, the country is in an urgent need to repriotise its sectors to be financed by domestic and external resources. Time has now come to be very selective in projects to be financed under external loan. Judicious use of loan assistance has to be made to reduce the burden of  external debt by utilising it in key infrastructure facilities and services that could play critical role in accelerating growth, enhancing industrialisation, increasing employment opportunities, promoting exports, addressing gender and regional imbalances, and reducing poverty.

Foreign aid has to be linked with development strategies and priorities in order to help achieve development goals. Leadership and ownership of the government and the people in development activities have to be fostered. The productivity and benefit of aid have to be maximised so as to enhance its impact on economic growth and poverty alleviation. National capacity in managing development projects has to be built through the transfer of management responsibility and implementation process of the projects jointly with the private sector.

The policy is expected to streamline the focus of aid on development priorities of the country; to make available adequate aid in terms of quality and quantity; ensure coherence of donor activities; reduction of the inefficient structure; maintaining consistency in procedures; generation of employment opportunities, and so on. In sum, the implementation of the foreign aid policy is expected to enhance the aid effectiveness and contribute to the fulfillment of development objectives of the country.

The government is committed to continue undertaking necessary structural changes in the economy so as to be able to effectively transform its human and natural resources into productive means. The government also believes that the availability of increased resources in the form of concessional financing coupled with the initiation of the debt-relief programme for Nepal would substiantially help her in challenging more resources for alleviating poverty, attaining a high and sustainable economic growth, reducing regional imbalances, addressing the major development challenges and also reducing the social costs and effects associated with the continued socio-economic reform process.

The deliberations that we undertake this afternoon in the areas mentioned above and in some of the other issues for which separate presentations are being made would help us in finalising our course of action for the future as well as giving a final shape to the documents that would be presented in the forthcoming Nepal Development Forum Meeting to be held in Paris. I would like to reiterate that Nepal highly appreciates the generous assistance provided by the donor community and firmly believes that, as Nepal is entering into a critical phase of the economic reform process and consolidation and strengthening of our democracy, the donor community would demonstrate their support to our policy measures by providing an enhanced level of development assistance.

Kathmandu, Apr. 7 :World Health Day-2000 is being celebrated today across the world with the slogan “Safe Blood Starts With Me.”

World Health Day is observed every year on April 7 at the call of the World Health Organisation (who) with a view to raising public awareness about health.

In the present context of more than 50 percent of school-going age children in developing countries being found to be suffering from anaemia and diseases resulting from it, the slogan “Safe Blood Starts With Me” has been chosen to show importance of blood for human life.

Globally, there is deep concern about the growing problem of infections like hiv/aids, hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, syphilis and malaria induced by blood transfusion. Only by ensuring safe blood can their incidence be reduced and the people protected.

In a message on the occasion of World Health Day, Health Minister Dr. Ram Baran Yadav said blood is life because safe blood is essential for man after he is born.

Stating that safe blood may be needed any time, in accidents and injuries, for sick people and pregnant women, Dr. Yadav said we must take precautions to keep our blood safe.

The health minister also urged parents to give iron-rich nutritious food to their children to keep them safe from diseases resulting from anaemia.

Noting that blood donors should be healthy and give only safe blood to others to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, Dr. Yadav observed that individuals, families and the society have a great responsibility in keeping their environment in which they grow safe and clean.

On the occasion, who Southeast Asia regional director Dr. Uton Muchtar Rafei said the who has dedicated the World Health Day in this new century to safe blood.

Blood is perhaps the most precious life resource, a vital defence mechanism and the essential carrier of oxygen needed by the human body, he said, adding that an important strategy would be to replace all professional blood donors with regular, voluntary blood donors.

In the message, Dr. Uton noted that it is also important that blood transfusion is prescribed only when essential and only rational use of available blood can ensure the supply of safe blood.

Kathmandu, Apr. 7:Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel today said that the government was committed to reform the civil service to ensure good governance and overall economic development.

“We recognise and value the importance of the role of civil service to achieving this noble objective,” Poudel said inaugurating a one-day workshop on Action Plan for Civil Service Reforms.

Poudel said that Nepalese bureaucracy badly needed enthusiasm and commitment to serving the people and accelerating the pace of development activities. “The government is working hard to rearrange ministerial structure and its functioning.”  Civil service reform is one of the priorities of the present government.

“Reform of the civil service is one of the most critical priorities facing Nepal in its effort to promote more effective development and thereby reduce poverty,” ADB’s Resident Representative Richard Vokes said.

Vokes said that the core problem of the civil service was not its size but rather its very wide mandate and its organisation. “The civil service cannot fulfil this mandate because of limited staff, limited budget and a lack of specialised training.”

Vokes said that the wide mandate of the civil service was also in contradiction with the liberalisation policy adding that the government should shift its role from that of a doer to that of a facilitator.

Citing the absence of merit-based career progression, the absence of a credible performance monitoring and feedback system, the absence of clear job descriptions and individual responsibility, the lack of accountability, increasing political interference and patronage as the factors contributing to the low morale of the civil servants, Vokes said that increasing pay and introducing performance related salaries would help change their attitude.

“Civil service reform is about refocusing, reorganisation, retooling and retraining. It is about strengthening the effectiveness and capacity of the civil service, not about weakening it.”

Introducing the action plan, ADB Consultant Janet Tay said that reform was changing attitude of all the stakeholders, which she said, was a difficult task. Tay stressed on meritocracy for a country to excel.

Organised jointly by the Ministry of General Administration and the Asian Development Bank’s Nepal Resident Mission and participated in by about 135 representatives of Nepalese government, ADB, donor agencies, and civil society, the workshop aimed at discussing the findings and recommendations of an ADB funded technical assistance project to formulate an action plan on civil service reform in Nepal.

The government’s 1992 Administrative Reforms Commission report was the basis of the work conducted under technical assistance that began in June 1999. The initiatives included conducting a civil service census, establishing a computerised personnel database, undertaking a functional review of ministries, and consideration of a range of alternatives for decentralisation.

The objective of the civil service reform programme is broadly to enhance policy development and service delivery by reforming the organisation and management of the civil service. Possible initiatives under the proposed programme will seek to develop more effective leadership for change management at all levels of the civil service, enhance civil service efficiency, strengthen anti-corruption measures, develop a capable and motivated civil service, and develop a performance-oriented and accountable civil service.

Proposed actions under the reform programme will include reorganisation of government ministries, strengthening of constitutional oversight bodies, legislative reform to improve the transparency and accountability of the civil service, reforms to provide additional incentives to civil servants, and introduction of standards for customer service in key service delivery ministries. It is proposed that the first phase of the reform programme will be implemented over a five-year period to begin in 2000.

Kathmandu, Apr. 7:The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in a message on World Health Day, said “Each year, blood transfusions save millions of lives. ”

“They are an essential component of the health-care system. The theme for this year’s World Health Day- “Safe Blood Starts With Me- Blood Saves Lives”- is a timely reminder of the importance of an accessible safe blood supply for the world’s people,” the UN chief stated.

The safety of blood transfusion continues to be a critical problem in many parts of the world. Technologioal advances have led to substantial improvements in industrial countries, but progress in developing countries has lagged behind. World Health Day 2000 draws our attention to the avoidable deaths that result from a lack of safe blood supply, he observed.

“Current estimates suggest that each year about 13 million units of untested blood are transfused. The women, children and poor people of the developing world are particularly susceptible to infections transmitted through transfusion. Although considerable progress has been made much remains to be done to ensure global blood safety,” the Secretary-General added.

Of the 191 World Health Organisation member States, only 43 per cent systematically screen donors’ blood for Hepatitis B and C and HIV, and  29 per cent have national policies and plans to ensure blood safety. Blood safety must be a key element of national health systems, he pointed out.

The World Health Organisation is working to promote the safety, quality, adequacy and appropriate use of blood. All sections of society from the highest levels of government to individual blood donors must be involved, he said.

“On this World Health Day 2000 let us commit ourselves to the goal of making safe blood supplies available to every patient who needs them, wherever he or she may live. We should see this as one of the essential services to which every human being is entitled,” Kofi Annan stated.

Similarly, Dr. Uton Muchtar Rafei, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, on the occasion of World Health Day said, “The first World Health Day in this new century is dedicated by WHO to safe blood. Blood is perhaps the most precious life resource, a vital defence mechanism and the essential carrier of oxygen needed by the human body. Severe reduction or blood through an accident or illness can be life threatening, necessitating a blood transfusion.”

Globally, there is deep concern about the growing problem of infections like HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, syphilis and malaria induced by blood transfusion. Only by ensuring safe blood can their incidence be reduced and the people protected, he stated.

“Overall, while most developed countries have been able to secure blood safety, developing countries, including those in our Region are still at varying stages of ensuring the supply of safe blood,” he  pointed out. For most countries there is an urgent need to develop national strategies for safe blood transfusion and to ensure their efficient implementation, he said.

An important strategy would be to replace all professional blood donors with regular, voluntary blood donors. At the same time, rigorous screening of all donated blood must be made mandatory. It is also important that blood transfusion is prescribed only when essential. Only rational use of available blood can ensure the supply of safe blood, Dr. Rafei said.

This year’s World Health Day slogan, “Safe blood starts with me”, is very relevant to our Region. It is a solemn reminder that any one can need blood transfusion any day. It is vital that together we ensure the availability of adequate supplies of safe blood, he said.

There is still no substitute available for red blood cells. We continue to rely on human blood and must ensure that it is safe. “Nations must implement rational and stringent policies for blood transfusion. At the same time all of us, as healthy citizens must donate our blood, regularly. Each one of us can offer this precious gift of life to those in need. We must make a start, today,” the WHO Regional Director observed.

Bhaktapur, Apr. 6: All preparations for an international convention on “Cultural Heritage and Management and Tourism” to be organised in the historic city of Bhaktapur have been   completed.

Talking to RSS, coordinator of the international convention and journalist Omcharan Amatya said foreign participants have started coming in to take part in the convention.

Nine cities enlisted in the World Heritage list of the Asia and Pacific region will be taking part in the convention to be jointly organized by the UNESCO and Bhaktapur Municipality.

The cities participating in the convention are of Nepal, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Laos, People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, Fiji and Malaysia.

Experts from 14 other different countries will also take part in the convention.

The convention aims to discuss coordination between cultural heritage, management and tourism and implement the suggestions received from the convention.

Bhaktapur Municipality has allocated Rs 1.1 million for the convention while the rest will be borne by the NORAD of Norway. The participants will also visit various sites of Kathmandu Valley enlisted in the World Heritage list.

Kathmandu, Apr. 6: Various donor countries involved in Nepal’s Tuberculosis prevention programme have praised the success Nepal has gained in the sector within a very short span of time and suggested the government make the programme more effective.

The participating experts and the group of technicians have made various recommendations at the fifth annual review meeting organised here to evaluate Nepal’s National Tuberculosis Prevention Programme.

The meeting was organised here recently under the auspices of the world health organisation and the national tuberculosis centre of the ministry of health.

Earlier, the technical experts’ group made an on-the-spot inspection, studied the problems and collected suggestions at the health posts in all the five development regions of the country where the tuberculosis prevention and the directly observed treatment short-course (D.O.T.S.) Programme have been launched.

Addressing the meeting, health secretary Srikant Regmi said that although there were many problems in the health sector in the country, the government has given a top priority to tuberculosis prevention programme.

He expressed the determination that His Majesty’s Government would make sincere efforts to implement the suggestions of the foreign experts’ team based on its observation of Nepal’s tuberculosis programme.

Chest specialist and director of the scientific department of the International Anti-Tuberculosis Association Prof. (Dr.) Donald Emerson said that the study carried out by various national and international experts, including himself, found that the health care facilities, the situation of medicine supply, patient examination wards and laboratories they studied at various DOTS centres and sub-centres were satisfactory.

The diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis patients in Nepal is done in a short period of four years, he said, adding due to better management there was a feeling of commitment and cooperation for the programme at the local, national and international levels.

Among the suggestions of the group include long term supply of quality medicines at various D.O.T.S. Centres across the country, provision of the required health manpower and quality laboratories at every primary health care centre and health posts, involvement of the private sector and medical institutes for the success of the D.O.T.S. Programme and implementation of an effective tuberculosis control programme at the border areas.

At the meeting director of the national tuberculosis centre and the SAARC Tuberculosis Centre Dr. Dirgha Singh Bam described tuberculosis as the main public health problem of Nepal and pledged to rectify the weaknesses seen in the implementation of the National Tuberculosis Prevention Programme.

President of the Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association (JATA) Dr. M. Aoki said that the success of the tuberculosis prevention programme in a geographically diverse country like Nepal meant the worldwide success of the programme.

Dr. Nani Nayar, senior chest physician Dr. Kashikant Jha, Dr. Rajendra Panta and others also expressed their views at the meeting presided over by director general of the Department of Health services Mr. B.D. Chataut.

Bhadrapur, Apr. 6: The community-based primary children’s development centres are doing good jobs in training children in rural areas of Jhapa, thanks to the active initiative taken by UNICEF, local development unit and various NGO’s.

Those centres provide daily four hours of basic education in homely environment to three to five years old children deprived of schooling facility. The centre provides educational materials such as books, writing copies, pen and pencils. The centres have evolved an environment of kindergarten tailored to the needs of the children who learn by singing, dancing, drawing pictures, and making dolls. Bulk of those getting such education are the children from poor, helpless, and depress and downtrodden communities.

At the centres the tiny tots who were once timid, shy and dispirited develop such qualities as fearlessness (in talking with any one), discipline, smartness, cheerfulness, good conduct towards their juniors and seniors, gentleness and creativity, says Prem Kumar Sangden, member of the board of directors of Sombare Child Development Centre. Pancha Maya Rai, a septuagenarian from Dipjyoti locality, Bahundagi, says, “These days my grand children force her to tell stories about tigers, lions, bears and other wild animals at night and every morning they wash their hands and face and hardly go to bed without washing their feet. They sing and dance to cheer us up too.”

These centres are receiving accolades for the successes it has achieved in cultivating such qualities as  dedication and creativeness in the children and sharpen their intellect.

Kaushila Kharel, Seto Guras NGO worker from Jhapa, says these centres have gained tremendous popularity within a short span of time.

With their growing popularity, twenty such centres have already got off the ground in Jhapa district with the help of UNICEF and the local units.

Kathmandu, Apr. 6: The Ministry of Education and Nepal Teachers’ Association reached an accord here recently on improvement of educational standard and professional development of teachers.

The accord will be instrumental in implementing an understanding reached between the two sides on November 4, the Ministry says.

under the accord, the ministry is to start necessary process and set criteria for providing one promotion opportunity to the third class teachers with fifteen years of permanent teaching service at secondary, lower secondary and primary levels. This will require it to make hundred percent increase in present promotion ratio, according to the Ministry.

Besides, it will also make necessary arrangement so that if a teacher is to retire from the level of service he joined during his first recruitment he will be upgraded one level a month before his retirement.

Under the understanding, a National Teachers Aervice Commission will be constituted in a week’s time at most and the commission thus constituted will start as soon as possible necessary procedures in a scientific, impartial and transparent manner on granting permanent status to teachers.

The amendment to the education act, in this connection has already been effected and the process regarding the constitution of the commission has also reached the final phase, it is learnt.

The Education Ministry has been acting quite sensitively on providing necessary assistance to teachers and their families affected by political violence and terrorism, the ministry says, adding that in the days to come it will make arrangement, by mobilising available various resources, for provision of free schooling up to secondary level to the children of teachers thus affected.

Noting that arrangement is already under way for providing government’s annual grants-in-aid of RS 10,000, Rs 12,000 and 20,000 to primary, lower secondary and secondary schools respectively, it says the aid amount will be increased gradually in the coming years.

As regards standardisation of education and education sector, the teachers association is stated to have pledged its greater commitment in that direction.