A health post constructed last year in Limi, a remote village in Namkha Rural Municipality-6 of Humla, has come into operation to the relief of local residents. In the absence of a health post, the villagers had to visit Taklakot in China for treatment of minor illnesses.

The health post was set up to serve the residents of Til, Halji and Jang settlements of Limi village. The villagers had long been deprived of basic health services since there were no health facilities in Limi.

Limi is a valley located beyond the Himalayas in the remote northern part of Humla district. Before the establishment of the health post, the villagers had to go to Taklakot of China to receive health facilities, as the village is almost a four-day walk from the district headquarters, Simkot. The villagers are still reliant on Taklakot, the bordering town in China which is a one-day walk from Limi, to get their daily essentials.

The local people were hardest hit since Chinese authorities closed the Nepal-China border two years ago amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Ever since the border closure, we have had no access to medical help. We had to depend on traditional healing methods and faith healers in case of health emergencies,” said Giramet Lama, a resident of Limi. “But now that the health post is in operation, we hope to get basic health facilities in our own village.”

The lack of proper health facilities had affected pregnant women the most since they missed out on regular antenatal checkups and safe motherhood facilities. The children were also deprived of immunisation services due to the lack of health institutions in the area.

“With the establishment of the health post, pregnant women can now go for regular checkups and vaccinations. We never had the opportunity to receive regular checkups during our pregnancy,” said Pema Tamang, a mother of three children in Limi.

The three-room building of the health post was constructed with the technical assistance of Snowland Integrated Development Centre and the financial support of Chhaya Nepal and Namkha Rural Municipality. Chhaya Nepal, a social organisation, provided Rs4.5 million for the building’s construction while the rural municipality issued Rs2 million for the same.

The Snowland Integrated Development Centre, another social organisation, has hired three health workers at the health post for the time being. According to Gobinda Bahadur Shahi, executive director of the centre, the villagers also contributed labour donations worth around Rs 600,000 to build the health post.

The recently established health post has an Out-patient Department and provides laboratory, vaccination, family planning, and pregnancy/maternity services.

“We also provide free medicines,” said Paljor Tamang, the ward chairman of Namkha-6. “Earlier, the villagers had to go to a Chinese town for treatment. Now they can avail of the same medical facilities in the village.”