Female health care volunteers in Nepal helping to improve maternal, neonatal survival rates

"Women working as female health care volunteers [FHCVs] often provide a vital service for the poorest in mountainous Nepal, and have contributed to a steady improvement in maternal and neonatal survival rates," IRIN reports. In Nepal, 52,000 FHCVs work nationwide, often in remote regions, to refer women and children to health centers and help raise money for their trips, according to the news service. Many experts believe the FHCVs have played a key role in reducing Nepal's maternal mortality ratio and increasing the proportion of births attended by a skilled birth attendant or that take place in a health facility, IRIN notes. "The FCHV program was launched in 1988 in 19 districts in the mid-west (Nepal's poorest region), with the purpose of improving maternal and neonatal care, according to the Health Ministry," IRIN writes, adding, "Despite being regarded as key to the state's public health program, the government provides them with virtually no support" (10/5).