Rapid Response to Nepal's Health Needs

AmeriCares is advancing from the emergency response phase of its work in Nepal to the sustainable recovery phase, taking steps to prepare the communities for the future while continuing to offer support and aid to those people still in need.

To date, AmeriCares has provided 38 shipments of medicine and supplies valued at $21.5 million and $1.5 million in project support to response partners. In the immediate response phase, AmeriCares mobilized physicians and relief workers from its India office to provide medical services to over 1,400 patients in some of Nepal’s hardest hit areas, such as Gorkha and Dhading. AmeriCares also financed and provided logistical support to the deployment of NYC Medics, a foreign medical team that treated over 1,200 patients in May 2015.

As the monsoon seasons draws to a close in Nepal, AmeriCares is ramping up its health facility rehabilitation and reconstruction programming. A team from AmeriCares will travel to target districts with local partner Himalayan Health Care to evaluate target facilities and finalize plans before construction begins.

In the Sindupalchowk District of Nepal, destruction from the April 25 magnitude 7.8 earthquake was massive. More than 4,000 people were injured and 62 health facilities destroyed. As a result, many survivors in need of long-term careare unable to find treatment. In partnership with the International Organization for Migration, AmeriCares is supporting a new 20-bed facility for patients who have been released from the hospital but need additional care. Patients at the facility will receive nursing and rehabilitation services as well as psychosocial support.

AmeriCares will also develop community-based care plans for patients, provide education on self care and connect families with transitional housing. AmeriCares is also collaborating with Himalayan Healthcare Nepal to repair 13 damaged health care facilities in Dhading District.

In the Kathmandu Valley, AmeriCares staff is providing psychological counseling to health care workers and developing a psychosocial program to build resiliency and coping strategies in affected communities. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) is another key focus of AmeriCares recovery work in Nepal. A joint AmeriCares-IsraAid MHPSS capacity-building initiative will increase psychosocial resilience in six earthquake-affected districts in Nepal. The need to provide psychosocial support to disaster survivors is critical to build resiliency and to enable communities to develop coping strategies and regain a sense of normalcy.

All of this work would be impossible if it wasn't for the continued support of loyal donors that AmeriCares is thankful to count on. With your help, AmeriCares can continue to respond to those in crisis, help them recover and start to transform their lives.

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AmeriCares teams have traveled by truck, helicopter and foot to reach remote, highly affected areas in the Dhading and Sindhupalchowk Districts. They have met with multiple partners and are coordinating our response activities with the World Health Organization/Ministry of Health and Population Health Cluster in Kathmandu as well as the District Health Offices in Dhading and Sindhupalchowk.

Within 48 hours of the earthquake, an AmeriCares India team was on the ground in Nepal distributing medicines and supplies to local health institutions and providing medical care to the injured. In the two months since the earthquake struck, AmeriCares has shipped or hand carried more than $21.4 million in medicines and supplies, which are being distributed to 21 local and international partners. AmeriCares personnel and AmeriCares-supported medical teams have treated nearly 2,700 patients and have provided aid in some of the hardest-hit districts.

To illustrate the personal nature of care AmeriCares has undertaken in response to this catastrophe, we'd like to share the story of Nishma, a woman from Ladap, Nepal who happened to be nearly 8 months pregnant at the time of the quake.  On May 26th, Nishma, with her due date approaching, hiked one-and-a-half miles from her village to seek care. After finally reaching one of the few functioning health care centers, doctors diagnosed her with pre-eclampsia (which if untreated can lead to seizures, organ damage or loss of consciousness) and advised her to seek medical attention at the medical center in the district capital, Dhading Besi.  Worried about the cost of care and the continuing aftershocks, Nishma took her preliminary medicines and returned home instead, where she was found unconscious in her village 2 days later.

AmeriCares organized a medical evacuation helicopter to pick up Nishma and fly her and a doctor and nurse to Kathmandu where they were able to help Nishma deliver a healthy seven-pound baby boy!  AmeriCares covered the cost of evacuation and care at Kathmandu Medical College. We are also supporting Nishma, the baby and the father for three months including food, clothing, care for the baby and transportation back to Dhading Besi where she and the family will stay with relatives through the monsoon season.

It is success stories like these, among many others, that reflect the effort, compassion, and generosity of donors to AmeriCares and through Global Giving.  As we continue our intermediate and long-term work in Nepal, we are constantly evaluating sustainable approaches for how to help the area recover. Thank you again for your support, we could not do this without you!