Community Health Center Opens in Myagdi's Manglaghat

Myagdi. A community health center has come into operation in Manglaghat, Beni Municipality-7.

Beni Municipality established the center with the aim of expanding access to basic healthcare services. Residents of Bagarphant in Ward No. 2 and Dammara in Ward No. 6, located in the western part of Beni, have benefited from this facility. Navaraj Poudel, a member of the management committee, stated that the center was established after five years of effort.

“Even though we are in the district headquarters, residents of Manglaghat, which lacks private clinics, faced difficulties in getting health check-ups, obtaining medicine, and testing for blood pressure and diabetes,” he said. “With the establishment of the health center in our neighborhood, the problem of having to wait for hours in line at the provincial hospital in Kalipul, Ward No. 8, or visiting private clinics for primary treatment has been resolved.”

Previously, there were no health institutions in Beni-7. The municipality has deployed one senior AHW and one staff nurse to the center. It provides basic services typically offered by health posts, including health check-ups, vaccination services, free medicine distribution, counseling, pregnancy check-ups, and postnatal home visits. Senior AHW Sima Bhandari Ghimire informed that about 200 people are receiving services monthly.

The center is currently operating in a rented house. Since the budget of Rs 150,000 allocated by Beni Municipality for the establishment of the center was insufficient for purchasing furniture and medical equipment, local residents collected and contributed Rs 113,000.

Poudel mentioned that there is a problem due to a lack of budget to pay the annual house rent of Rs 60,000. Residents of Manglaghat have demanded the construction of the center's own building and its regular operation.

The municipality has previously established community health centers in Singa, Daduwa, Setadhunga, Galeshwor, and Toripani, targeting residents in neighborhoods where accessing ward-level health institutions is inconvenient.