November 2020
Nepalese Africa Health Team (NAHT) is an integral part of Health Committee of Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) that was formalized in August 2020 in order advise upon the various health needs of Nepalese immigrants based in Africa.
We recently held a meeting with the members and advisors of NAHT and discussed opportunities as well as challenges among the Nepali diaspora based in Africa and touched upon ways their health status could be improved and maintained.
Over 10,000 Nepali migrants and their families are estimated to reside within Africa. These migrants live in various countries ranging from South Africa to Tunisia in length, and Egypt to Liberia in breadth and include the islands of Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles.
The majority of Nepalese people based in Africa are thought to have a valid work permit and are authorized to work in their country of residence, we acknowledge that a large number of these people may be residing in the African continent without the various legal documents. A large percentage of Nepalese migrants are believed to use Africa as a transit port for potential migration into the United States of America and Australia, as well as other first world countries.
The team pondered upon actions such as; the future of Tele-Health within the African context, preparation of guidelines to raise awareness on various health and mental health issues and its determinants of common diseases and disorders such as HIV AIDS, tuberculosis, depression and anxiety; identifying ways to gather statistics on Corona infections amongst the Nepalese diaspora and collect general information on the overall health status of the Nepalese migrants.
The team recognizes that profit-minding agents are reportedly misguiding Nepalese migrants, and as a result the migrants find themselves in undesirable work conditions. Therefore, it is further recognized that these migrants will at some stage need assistance from NRNA legal and ethical teams.
Present in the meeting were, Dr Suvarna Pradhan, Dr. Pushpa Raj Bhattarai, Dr. Abhaya Karki, Ms. Kipa Shrestha, Ms. Devi Poudel, Mr. Krishna Bhatt, Dr. Sarita Pandey Bhattarai and Dr. Sanjeeb Sapkota.
“The meeting has been productive as there are some focused actions being planned to support the Nepali people residing in Africa,” said Dr. Sanjeeb Sapkota, the chair of the Health Committee of NRNA.
The next meeting will be held in December where we aim to finalize the guidelines and invite a larger audience which will include the presidents of NRNA’s in 16 African countries, regional co-ordinator, and NRNA ICC members from Africa.
This date will be announced once the team and the external attendees agree to the finalized date.
Comment