The Rural Health Development Programme (RHDP) identified disadvantaged groups in each district to receive the stretchers to ensure that the neediest communities would benefit. This WTS funded pilot has enabled the purchase of 50 stretchers to be used across 3 districts of Nepal: Dolakha, Ramechhap and Baglung. Strategically located stretchers therefore have a huge potential to benefit these groups, who are isolated by their situation and poverty.

Research carried out by Nepal’s District Roads Support Programme as part of IFRTD’s Mobility and Health Networked Research programme identified that disadvantaged groups, primarily women and discriminated castes, tend to live further from the road and from health facilities. Funds raised by the Women in Transportation Seminar London (WTS) have been used to place stretchers in the heart of rural communities in 3 districts of Nepal, where they are being managed and maintained by local groups in order to improve their own access to routine and emergency medical care. In rural areas of Nepal where there are no roads and motorised transport is not an option, simple stretchers can provide a vital means of transporting sick and injured people to health care facilities.

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