The Dhulikhel Hospital, a non-profit hospital, was founded in 1996 under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Ram Shresta with Nepalese and European help and was given its purpose of providing quality medical care to the poorest in Nepal.

It is located at an altitude of 1,550 meters about 30 km east of Kathmandu. It provides medical care for a catchment area of 2.3 million inhabitants. A specially set up charity fund ensures that medical services for destitute patients are paid for. No one is sent away from the hospital without treatment.

The hospital has 425 beds and various departments: Internal Medicine, Surgery, Orthopaedic Traumatology, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Dermatology, ENT and Eye Department, Dermatology, Community Medicine and Radiology. After the major earthquake in 2015, thousands of patients received medical care and emergency surgery at Dhulikhel Hospital.

18 "outreaches", a network of small medical outstations on the territory, depend on Dhulikhel Hospital.

The help of South Tyrolean Doctors for the World is still needed to ensure and improve the hospital's medical services. Prof. Dr. Ram Shresta expresses his sincere thanks for the valuable support!

Construction of the maternity clinic in Dhulikhel

Following the urgently needed renovation work at Dhulikel Hospital in 2015 due to the major earthquake, the Autonomous Province of Bolzano made it possible to build a new floor for the maternity ward. The department was put into operation in 2018.

Through regular awareness programs in rural areas, vaccination campaigns and courses for traditional birth attendants, the number of women giving birth in the hospital is constantly increasing. Nepal has one of the lowest inpatient delivery rates in the world and one of the highest maternal mortality rates. This has been reduced by 85% in the catchment area of this hospital compared to the rest of the country.

Purchase of medical equipment for the operating theater

With 20,000 surgical procedures a year, it is essential that the surgical instruments and equipment function reliably and optimally. With the support of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, it was possible to purchase new instruments and various apparatus for surgery.

COVID help

Since the first SARS-COV-2 case occurred in Nepal on January 13, 2020, COVID-19 infections have been steadily increasing in the country. Dhulikhel Hospital, as Kathmandu University Hospital, was available as a level III hospital immediately after the outbreak of the pandemic as a contact point and for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. In consultation with the public authorities, people in remote areas were also informed about the virus and given protective instructions via the 21 outstations.

One of the hospital buildings with 100 beds was set up as a Covid-19 isolation ward. Thanks to the support of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, the existing hospital resources could be expanded and the Covid-19 department equipped.

Due to the high number of PCR tests, the hospital laboratory had reached its capacity limit and had to be relocated to larger premises. World Doctors made it possible to lay the water pipes and build a 50,000 liter water tank.

Not only old people need glasses, but more and more young people are suffering from impaired vision. For over 15 years, the eye department at Dhulikhel Hospital has been providing regular and specialized patient care at the hospital. In a catchment area of 1.9 million inhabitants, eye diseases are treated, visual acuity is checked, short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism are corrected and surgical interventions, especially cataract operations, are performed. The big problem at Dhulikhel Hospital and in Nepal in general is not the actual analysis of visual acuity. However, it is the conversion of the measured values into sensible glasses that poses the greatest challenge.

In mountainous Nepal, patients usually have to travel long distances to reach the hospital. It is therefore extremely important that they receive their customized glasses on the same day as the eye examination. This was made possible by equipping an existing shipping container and purchasing an automatic faceting machine.

The Dhulikhel Hospital, a non-profit hospital, was founded in 1996 under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Ram Shresta with Nepalese and European help and was given its purpose of providing quality medical care to the poorest in Nepal. It is located at an altitude of 1,550 meters about 30 km east of Kathmandu. It provides medical care for a catchment area of 1.9 million inhabitants. 21 outreaches, a network of small medical outstations in the territory, depend on Dhulikhel Hospital.

The healing effect of traditional baby massage has been known in Nepal for centuries. Learned from her own mother, the young mother massages her newborn baby outdoors under the warming rays of the sun in the first few days after birth.

In addition to the construction of a floor in the gynecology and maternity department, our association has made it possible to build a therapy garden to promote the ancient tradition of baby massage at Dhulikhel Hospital.

The project aims to detect and treat severe hearing impairment in newborns in the catchment area of the Dhulikhel Hospital and its 18 outreach clinics with 2.7 million inhabitants in order to promote the child's linguistic and social development.

Hearing impairment is a serious problem in Nepal. 16.6% of the total population suffers from hearing loss, which is one of the highest rates in Asia. Unfortunately, 55.5% of hearing loss in children in Nepal is due to preventable causes such as ear infections, which can be treated. However, some other ENT problems require hearing aids, cochlear implants and hearing rehabilitation. To detect these problems early, neonatal hearing screening for the infants is essential.

The project will run for three years and is a collaboration between the Dhulikhel Hospital, World Doctors and the Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation. The two ENT doctors Dr. Christian Streitberger and Nadia Garbini, members of the association, are significantly involved in the project.

The Dhulikhel Hospital and its outreach clinics will carry out hearing screening for 12,000 newborns. After clarification of minor hearing damage due to infections, moderate hearing loss is treated with hearing aids and severe hearing loss with cochlear implants. Both require rehabilitation by speech therapists and the family.

To implement the project, the ENT department at Dhulikhel Hospital needs to be equipped. Otoscopes, portable and diagnostic testing equipment needs to be purchased for the outreach clinics. An important part of the project involves training and education of audiologists, speech therapists, doctors and family members of the young patients.

In cooperation with the national health system, the introduction of newborn hearing screening will lead to an improvement in the development of children with hearing loss, first in the project area and then nationwide.

The project is funded by the Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation from Germany.

Earthquake relief in Nepal

In April 2015, Nepal was hit by a powerful earthquake. The figures were shocking: according to the United Nations, 8 million people were affected, with around 8,800 dead and 22,300 injured in Nepal. One million children were unable to attend school, which was destroyed - as were 500,000 houses.

Dhulikhel Hospital

After the major earthquake, our association was able to provide immediate financial support for the hospital's initial medical care thanks to our long-standing collaboration with Dhulikhel Hospital and its founder and medical director, Prof. Dr. Ram Shresta. Thousands of patients received medical care, hundreds of operations were carried out and bandages and medicines were purchased.

Construction of the Khanya Kharka health station in Sindhuli

After the major earthquake in 2015, the reconstruction of the health center in Sindhuli was started in cooperation with the Trentino South Tyrol region. Construction was completed in 2019. A doctor, a midwife, an X-ray technician, a laboratory technician and two nurses care for patients in a catchment area of 18,000 people. The 284 m2 building consists of an outpatient clinic, an operating room, a delivery room, a laboratory, an X-ray department and a ward.

Reconstruction of 20 houses in Phulpingkatti

In cooperation with the Nepalese village committees and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, the association financed building materials for the reconstruction of 20 houses for particularly needy families in Phulpingkatti. The village is located on the Tibetan border on the highway towards China in the Sindhupalchok district.

Reconstruction of the elementary school in Tutung

In Tutung, the collapsed elementary school for 110 children and 5 teachers was rebuilt with the support of the Herrod Foundation from Switzerland. The village is located at 1700 meters above sea level on a very steep mountain slope in Raluka Devi, Nuwakot.

The Olgapuri Vocational School in Lalitpur was founded in 2017 and is run by the Nepal Youth Foundation (www.nepalyouthfoundation.org). For the past three years, it has been offering vocational training for electricians, plumbers, carpenters, wood turners and metalworkers. The training takes place in a dual system of theory and practice. It concludes with a state-recognized qualification.

The project partner is the Nepal Youth Foundation, an organization that has been established for over 30 years and is mainly committed to the education, upbringing and protection of needy children and young people in Nepal. Their great commitment to the liberation of Kamlaris deserves special mention. These are young girls who were sold at the age of 6 to rich families in the country and kept as slaves to work in the household, in childcare and in the kitchen under inhumane conditions. The organization has succeeded in freeing thousands of slave girls, returning them to their parents' homes and providing them with an education.

It is of great importance to give the Kamlari girls and other young women from poor backgrounds independence, dignity and future job opportunities through education and the creation of new prospects in life.

There is a dormitory for the students and a small guest house for volunteers on the school grounds.

Objective: by setting up a new specialization for seamstresses at the Olgapuri Vocational School, particularly underprivileged girls are to receive a seamstress training and future career opportunities. In a 6-month training course, 20 students per class will be trained in theory and practice. The project will run for 4 years.

In the first year, the training center was set up and 24 sewing machines and the necessary materials were purchased. From the second year onwards, four 6-month courses will be offered each year. The school has developed the courses in cooperation with a local textile industry.

Most of the costs for the first two school years are covered by the Schöck Familien Stiftung GmbH from Baden-Baden, which also supports World Doctors in other projects.

The contact persons for implementation on site are Som Paneru, President of the Nepal Youth Foundation, Riswo Gorkhali, Director of the Olgapuri Vocational School, Tilak Lama Lopchan, a member of the school's board and a long-standing partner of our association in other school projects. Gabi Janssen (Managing Director, left) and Monika Gross (Project Management, center) visited the Olgapuri Vocational School on the occasion of the inauguration of the health station in Sindhuli financed by the association and the inspection of other projects in Nepal and got a very good impression of the school and the Nepal Youth Foundation. They were also lucky enough to meet the founder of the Nepal Youth Foundation, Olga Murray, who is now over 90 years old.

Helmut and Helga Spiess, members of World Doctors, made it possible to build a kindergarten in Bolde, a village association with 10,000 inhabitants in the mountains 80 km east of Kathmandu. The structure will not only be reserved for children, but will also be used for adult education on hygiene and health care and for other village community activities. The project is being realized in cooperation with the Namastè Foundation, which has been active in Bolde for many years.