Most health facilities in Kavre are running their services under tents after last year’s earthquake destroyed their buildings.

The earthquake had affected 81 of the 85 health institutes in the district. Very few of them have moved into prefabricated buildings but the others are still operating from the makeshift tents built to resume health care services following the quake.

Bankhuchaur Health Post, Saldhara Health Post, Sathighar Bhagwati Health Post and Panchkhal Primary Health Centre are still making do with the tents.

Both patients and health workers are facing difficulty in the absence of proper buildings.

Maternity service has been affected the most, said Shraddha Thapa, a health worker at Bankhuchaur Health Post.

“Our service has been compromised in terms of sanitation and our patients’ comfort. Sometimes it rains while we are in the middle of child delivery and a tent is not reliable in such situation,” said Shraddha Thapa, a health worker at Bankhuchaur Health Post.

Ujjwal Adhikari, who is in charge of Panchkhal Primary Health Centre, said they too have been providing maternity service under tarpaulin tents after the

earthquake.

“Engineers have suggested us that the old building can be used after maintenance. However, the government has not provided the budget to repair the building,” he said.

Dr Arjun Sapkota, the chief of District Health Office, said reconstruction of health facilities in Kavre has been delayed because the government has not allocated the budget for it.

“The Ministry of Health and the Department of Health Services cannot offer us the budget. It should come from Urban Development and Building Construction Division, which has not so far,” he said.