Improving mental health services in Gorkha and Salyan

Gorkha, Gandaki province and Salyan, Karnali Province - The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) and WHO Country Office for Nepal organized a five-day workshop from 26-30 March in Gorkha and 22-26 April in Salyan to facilitate the Model Municipality Toolkit for Mental Health and strengthen mental health services at the municipal level. Over 600 stakeholders – including elected representatives, provincial health officials, health workers, police personnel, social activists, female community health volunteers, teachers, traditional healers and partner organizations – were engaged through these workshops. The toolkit, jointly developed by MoHP and WHO, was introduced and will be piloted in Palungtar Municipality (Gorkha) and Bagchaur Municipality (Salyan). The workshops also aimed to support ongoing efforts by local governments to identify and implement mental health promotive and preventive activities – such as enrolling people with disabilities in the National Health Insurance programme and organizing mental health camps – while introducing new initiatives like satellite clinics and school-level mental health awareness sessions. WHO will support the rollout of this pilot to ensure its effective implementation and long-term sustainability.