In Ruby Valley, distance remains one of the main obstacles to accessing healthcare. Deependra Panta, Program Manager – Health and Hygiene in Nepal, shares his experience working with communities in the region and what health camps are changing for them.
Distance as a barrier to healthcare
In Ruby Valley, accessing healthcare is not simply a matter of deciding to visit a health facility: the journey itself is often the biggest obstacle. Communities live scattered across remote mountain areas, where the nearest specialized care can be six hours away by road. During the monsoon, some roads become impassable for nearly four months. When someone falls seriously ill during this period, they may be carried for hours on a stretcher by neighbors and porters, simply to reach a health post.
For specialized care, people may need to travel up to 75 km to the district headquarters, or 165 km to Kathmandu. For families with limited incomes, this distance is not just an inconvenience: it is often the reason why a health problem remains untreated for years.
Bringing specialists closer
This is why health camps matter so much here. By bringing specialists directly into communities, we can reach people who might otherwise never receive this care.
Through these camps, people can access cataract screening and surgery, reproductive health services, ultrasounds for pregnant women, dental care, orthopedic consultations and screening for non-communicable diseases, often on the same day.
We work closely with local health facilities, district hospitals, private providers, NGOs and individual specialists to bring the right expertise for each need. When care cannot be provided at the camp, we make sure people are referred to the appropriate services.
With the support of Karuna-Shechen, a rural eye center has been established locally, and Sertung now has its own Medical Officer. Some of these services are therefore gradually becoming available on a more regular basis.
What this changes in everyday life
One experience that has stayed with me is meeting women who had lived for years with uterine prolapse, quietly enduring pain because treatment was simply out of reach. Others had pelvic infections that required nothing more than basic medication, yet even that had been unavailable to them.
Through the camps, many of these women were finally able to receive the surgery or treatment they needed. Seeing them leave relieved, and hearing that they could return to their daily activities without pain, reminded me just how much healthcare can change a life when it becomes accessible.
Health camps are important because they bring specialized healthcare closer to people who may otherwise never receive the treatment they need. I have seen older people regain their vision after cataract surgery, children receive spectacles that help them read again, and pregnant women access essential care without leaving their valley.
Deependra
Little by little, new habits are emerging
Beyond treatment, these camps also help people better understand their own health and seek care earlier, before a problem becomes serious. More and more pregnant women are asking about antenatal check-ups and ultrasounds, more parents are bringing their children for eye examinations, and people who have received care at one camp are encouraging their neighbors to come to the next.
I was born in a remote part of Nepal, so I understand the challenges these communities face, and that is why this work means so much to me. Every time I see someone finally receive the care they needed, it reminds me that healthcare is about more than treatment. It is also about dignity, opportunities, and making sure that people living in remote areas have the same right to quality healthcare as anyone else, regardless of where they live or what they can afford.
