Implementing Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Programs in Hospitals in Nepal

As the lead organization for supporting the Government of Nepal in the implementation of Flagship 1, Hospital Component, of the five priority actions under the international consortium, ADB organized a national workshop on Hospital Earthquake Safety on 23 December, 2010, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) and World Health Organization (WHO). Mr. Amod Mani Dixit, Executive Director of NSET was commissioned as Consultant to help organize and facilitate the workshop with assistance from Mr. Ramesh Guragain, as a Facilitator.

The major objectives of the workshop were to : 1)Raise awareness of Health-related key institutions on the need for disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Hospitals; 2) Provide/collect inputs to develop a comprehensive program strategy; 3) Convince and invite all national and international stakeholders for co-funding. Participants to the workshop included high level officials and senior representatives from the Ministries of Health and Population, Physical Planning and Works, Education, Home Affairs, Local Development, and the departments; representatives of embassies, bilateral aid agencies, UN System, National and International Non Government Organizations, Academia, Engineering Association and Private Sectors etc.

The proposed program seeks to target about 60 hospitals (13 Government, 45 Private) with more than 50 beds inclu-ding two blood banks of Kathmandu Valley for seismic retrofitting. Main activities of the program include: a) detail vulnerability assessment, b) Emergency Preparedness Planning, c) Non-Structural Mitigation, d) Detail Design and implementation of Seismic Retrofitting and, e) Awareness and Capacity Building. The project is envisaged to be implemented in 5 years with an estimate cost of USD 20.4 million.