Building stronger health institutions and systems (BIS) in Nepal
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Under the BIS program, NIPH is collaborating with several institutions with public health functions to contribute to strengthening public health capacity within Nepal.
Aims of the BIS collaboration
NIPH and its partner institutions in Nepal will work together over the course of the project on areas of mutual interest. Our aims are to support organizational development, and strengthen institutional capacity in the areas of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and infectious diseases. To improve organizational development, we will strengthen networks and collaborate on assessments and grant writing.
For preventing and controlling NCDs, we will collaborate to strengthen implementation research capacity, and bridge academic and public health practice, in addition to supervising PhD students in implementation research for NCD program delivery in primary healthcare settings. In the field of infectious diseases, we will support annual theoretical and practical laboratory courses in advanced molecular biology techniques, and supervise a PhD student in laboratory techniques.
Collaborating partners
NIPH has been collaborating in the field of infectious diseases since 2009, with microbiologists at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Under BIS, we are expanding the collaboration to also include organizational development and NCDs, and the Nepal team has identified collaborating institutions with public health functions that mirror NIPH’s social mission – to produce, summarise, and disseminate knowledge to support good public health efforts and healthcare services.
The Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Health and Population, and NIPH are working together to promote stronger public health institutions and systems in Nepal through strengthening research capacity, stimulating local research capacity and activity, housing PhD students, and supporting the Ministry of Health and Population’s knowledge needs.
Kathmandu University School of Medical Science (KUSMS), a not-for-profit organization, is a pioneering institution to advance the field of health sciences, training, research, and services in Nepal. NHRC and KUSMS hold an MoU. KUSMS, has launched a PhD program in Health Science.
The Consortium of Academic Institutions for Public Health in Nepal (CAIPHEN) comprises the eight universities/institutions overseeing public health programs. CAIPHEN aims to enhance the quality, relevance and implementation of public health education, policy and services. KUSMS is currently the secretariate for the consortium.
Tribhuvan University (TU) is a public university, which includes, among others, the Central Department of Microbiology (TU-CDM) and the Teaching Hospital Institute of Medicine (TUTH-IOM).
Project updates
Spring 2024
- The BIS Nepal Norway team enjoyed two visits to Nepal to catch up with our partners
- With support from NIPH, KUSMS hosted the first Public Health Students’ Conference February 2024, on behalf of the Consortium of Academic Institutions for Public Health in Nepal (CAIPHEN). More than 350 public health students from various public health institutions of Nepal attended the conference.
- A Planetary Health Course was held, in collaboration with KUSMS and discussions are ongoing for future plans
- A call for fellows to be part of an “Implementation Research Fellowship” was announced, with the intention of building the capacity of public health faculty and government officials on implementation research to improve population health in Nepal. The learning will be based on principles of mentoring, seed funding, hands-on case study implementation, and collaboration.
Spring 2023
- A collaboration agreement with KUSMS was signed, 6 February 2023
- The PhD program in Health Science at KUSMS has started, and BIS funded PhD candidates with an affiliation from KUSMS or NHRC were selected.
- The second meeting of the Consortium of Academic Institutions for Public Health in Nepal (CAIPHEN) to discuss the structure, mode of operation, and the follow-up actions took place on 22-23 March, with a follow up meeting on 30 April with the executive committee and selected faculty members to plan the joint assessment “Public Health Competencies in Nepal: current status and way forward”
- Ethics and Implementation research workshop, arranged in collaboration with NHRC, was successfully conducted 28-29 April.
- Implementation research actor meeting, arranged in collaboration with KUSMS and NHRC, was successfully conducted 29 April. The outcome will inform implementation research capacity strengthening activities.
- An International Symposium on Climate Change and Planetary Health, arranged in collaboration with NHRC and KUSMS, to sensitize high level officials of the government and academicians, and plan capacity strengthening activities, was successfully conducted 30 April 2023.
Autumn 2022
- A collaboration agreement with the NHRC was signed in November 2022
- KUSMS’s PhD program in Health Sciences was announced 2 November 2022
- Planning was undertaken for the second public health consortium meeting to be held in spring
- A next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics course (state-of-the-art sequencing platform and applied bioinformatics) was held at TU-CDM and attended by 18 staff and students enrolled at TU-CDM, TUTH-IOM, Warun, National Public Health Laboratory, and KUSMS. Three staff from MHRC and two faculty members from KUSMS attended an implementation research course in Bergen, in November.
NIPH Collaborative Team
- Kjersti Mørkrid Blom-Bakke, NIPH Country Coordinator
- Aurelia India Neumark, BIS Project Management Support
- Kristian Alfsnes, Ernst Kristian Rødland, Liv Elin Torheim, Expert Technical Support
