Readiness of the health system to provide non-communicable disease services in Nepal: a comparison between the 2015 and 2021 comprehensive health facility surveys.

Background: In Nepal, despite the escalating burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), there is a gap in the continuum of care for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care services for NCDs. The study aimed at assessing the changes in availability and readiness scores of health facilities between two consecutive health facility surveys.

Methods: We compared NCD readiness scores between 2015 and 2021, using data from two nationally representative cross-sectional Nepal Health Facility Surveys (NHFS).

Factors associated with HIV testing and counselling services among women and men in Nepal: a cross-sectional study using data from a nationally representative survey.

Objectives: This study is set up to explore the factors associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) testing among women and men in Nepal.

Study Design: Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2016 adopts a cross-sectional design.

Setting: Nepal.

Availability and readiness to provide sexually transmitted infections and HIV testing and counselling services in Nepal: evidence from comprehensive health facility survey.

Objective: We assessed the availability and readiness of health facilities to provide sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV testing and counselling (HTC) services in Nepal.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study.

Setting: We used data from the most recent nationally representative Nepal Health Facility Survey (NHFS) 2015.

Implementing Federalism in the Health System of Nepal: Opportunities and Challenges.

Nepal moved from unitary system with a three-level federal system of government. As federalism accelerates, the national health system can also speed up its own decentralization process, reduce disparities in access, and improve health outcomes. The turn towards federalism creates several potential opportunities for the national healthcare system.

Socio-demographic characteristics and the utilization of HIV testing and counselling services among the key populations at the Bhutanese Refugees Camps in Eastern Nepal.

Objectives: This cross-sectional study was conducted to describe the socio-demographic characteristics, assess the utilization of HIV testing and counselling services, and to explore the reasons for the non-utilization of HIV testing and counselling services among the key populations at the Bhutanese refugee camps in eastern Nepal.

Results: The HIV testing and counselling services are utilized by less than a third (29%) of the key population among the Bhutanese Refugees. The prime source of information about the HIV testing and counselling sites has been health workers followed by peer/outreach educators and neighbors.

Nutritional status and its association with quality of life among people living with HIV attending public anti-retroviral therapy sites of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

Background: Little evidence exists on the connections between nutrition, diet intake, and quality of life (QoL) among people living with HIV (PLHIV). The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of under-nutrition among PLHIV in Nepal, and identify risk factors and assess correlations with PLHIVs' QoL and nutritional status.

Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional study used Body Mass Index (BMI) as an indicator for nutritional status, and additional information on opportunistic infections (OIs), CD4 count, and World Health Organization (WHO) clinical staging was collected from medical records.

Illness perception of tuberculosis (TB) and health seeking practice among urban slum residents of Bangladesh: a qualitative study.

Background: Combating tuberculosis (TB) in urban slums is more complex than in rural areas due to reasons such as over-crowding, unhygienic living conditions and poverty. This study aimed to assess illness perception of TB and identify barriers and facilitators for health seeking practice among the residents of Badda slum, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Methods: The Badda slum was purposively selected.

Sexual behavior and condom use among seasonal Dalit migrant laborers to India from Far West, Nepal: a qualitative study.

Background: Around 41% of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) cases in Nepal occur in seasonal migrant laborers. Dalit migrant laborers represent the largest proportion of reported HIV cases in the Far Western Region (Sudur Pashchimanchal, or Far West), Nepal. The study's objectives were to assess sexual behavior, condom use status and HIV risk perception among Dalit migrant laborers to India from Far West Region, Nepal.