Recognizing the important role played by parliamentarians in disseminating accurate health information to the general public, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), with support from WHO, Country Office for Nepal, organized a series of briefings with elected members of the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies earlier this year.
The series kicked off with an interaction program at Pokhara, Gandaki Province, on 19 February, with speakers and deputy speakers of all seven provinces as key participants. Similar sessions were then held with both incumbent and newly appointed members of the National Assembly in Kathmandu, followed by briefings for the honorable members of Karnali Province Assembly, Sudurpaschim Province Assembly, Madhesh Province Assembly, and Province 1 Assembly at the respective provincial capitals in February and March 2022.
Top Left: Rt. Honourable Mr Ganesh Prashad Timilsina, delivering opening remarks during the Parliamentarian Interaction program with members of the National Assembly in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Top Right: Deputy Chairperson, Hon. Shashikala Dahal, delivering remarks during the Parliamentarian Interaction program with members of the National Assembly in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Bottom Right: Hon. Health Minister Mr Birodh Khatiwada, delivering his closing remarks during the Parliamentarian Interaction program with members of the National Assembly in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Middle Left: Dr Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav, WHO Representative to Nepal, delivering his remarks during the Parliamentarian Interaction program with Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly
Members in Sudurpaschim Province, Nepal.
Bottom: Dr Sangeeta Kaushal Mishra, Chief of Health Coordination Division, providing the welcome remarks during the Parliamentarian Interaction program with members of the National Assembly in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Photo Credit: WHO Nepal/A.Maharjan
"Over time, people have understood that the COVID-19 pandemic is not solely a health issue. It's cross-cutting and thus response to deal with it also required coordination and collaboration across sectors at all levels. The leadership shown by honorable members of the parliament in responding to the pandemic has been appreciated and they play an important role in addressing the challenges that have arisen due to the prolonged pandemic," said Dr. Sangeeta Mishra, Chief of Health Coordination Division and Spokesperson of the MoHP, during the event.
At each of the one-day sessions, experts and senior officials from the MoHP and WHO led technical briefings on topics including vaccination, the science behind COVID-19 related public health and social measures, post-COVID-19 symptoms and their management, risk/crisis communication and community engagement in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of COVID-19 on non-communicable diseases and mental health.
Top Left: Hon. Deputy Speaker Ms Nirmala Badal Joshi, Sudurpaschim Province, presenting her queries during the interaction program with Speaker and Deputy Speakers of all seven provinces at Pokhara, Nepal.
Top Middle: Provincial Parliamentarian of Karnali Province presenting her queries during the interaction program with provincial parliamentarians at Karnali Province, Nepal.
Top Right: A member of the National Assembly presenting her queries during the interaction program with National Assembly members at Kathmandu, Nepal.
Bottom: Resource person from the MoHP and WHO responding to queries presented by the Members of National Assembly at Kathmandu, Nepal.
Photo Credit: WHO Nepal/A.Maharjan
The briefing sessions were followed by a highly interactive and engaging questions-answers round with the participants. The parliamentarians raised myriads of queries and concerns, which were addressed by the resource persons from MoHP and WHO Nepal.
Participants from the National Assembly; Ministry of Health and Population; and World Health Organization, Country Office for Nepal; during the Parliamentarian Interaction program with members of the National Assembly in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo Credit: WHO Nepal/A.Maharjan
The series of events saw high-level participation from the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the National Assembly; Health Minister; Chief Ministers and Ministers of Karnali and Sudurpaschim Province; Chief Secretary and Secretary of Secretariat of National Assembly; Health Secretary; Chief Specialist of MoHP; Chief of Health Coordination Division; the Directors of Family Welfare Division; National Health Education, Information, and Communication Center; and key officials of MoHP.
"Since the start of the pandemic, parliamentarians have been eager to understand how they could contribute to response efforts and help the people who elected them. I am glad to have been able to partner with the Ministry of Health and Population and WHO for this important initiative to orient elected officials on their roles in public health advocacy and on explaining to parliamentarians the weightage of our words. As parliamentarians we must embrace science and base decisions that impact the wellbeing of our population on solid evidence," said Rt. Hon. Chairperson of the National Assembly, Mr Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, who led the coordination efforts for the entire program.
This high-level engagement is envisaged in the communication strategy of the MoHP developed with support from WHO, Country Office for Nepal (adopted on 22 August 2020). The collaboration among the National Assembly (parliamentarians), the Ministry of Health and Population, and WHO, Country Office for Nepal, was also one of the highlights in the 144th Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) Conference recently held in Indonesia and special time was allocated for the Rt. Honorable Chairman of National Assembly (Upper House of Nepal) to talk about the interaction program.
"There is a need for leadership in various quarters and all sections of society to respond to COVID-19. Parliamentarians play an important role not only in COVID-19 but also in other important issues of public health and policymaking related to health, ensuring citizens' health and well-being, and making health services more effective," said WHO Representative to Nepal, Dr Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav.
Commitment signed by Rt. Honorable Chairperson, Speakers, and Deputy Speakers on building policies to ensure effective coordination and cooperation in combating COVID-19 Pandemic and other/future pandemics.
One of the major outcomes of the program was the signing of a commitment by the Speakers and Deputy Speakers of all seven provinces to build policies to ensure effective coordination and cooperation in combating COVID-19 pandemic and other/future pandemics during the kick-off event in Pokhara.