Nepal Govt. Regd. No. 1224/064, SWC Affiliation No. 22612
The Himalayan Ambulance project is a health initiative focused on providing ambulance services to support local communities. This project involves supplying a fully equipped 4WD Mahindra Bolero ambulance to local governments, including municipalities and rural municipalities, which are then responsible for operating these vehicles effectively. The project has been meticulously planned through close discussions and collaborations with health experts, local residents, officials, and local government authorities. We are committed to enhancing the health facilities in the targeted project locations, thereby enabling people to receive the necessary treatment more promptly.
Location:
The project aims to increase the easy access to health services in all the municipalities (2) and rural municipalities (9) of Gorkha district as well as in neighboring districts. The project will benefit connected districts like Tanahun, Kaski, Lamjung and Chitwan as the people from these areas can request for the ambulance service to use.
In the first phase of the project, we provided the following number of ambulances (6 out of target 20) in these places:
Following the successful completion of the first phase of this project, in January 2024, we once again provided seven ambulances to the following locations. As per the need and the demand of the local government and the health posts, this time some additional health equipment to enhance the health services of those particular places were also handed over with the ambulances.
If we get enough funding, we will also further distribute the ambulances in neighboring district Manang, Tanahun and Lamjung as well which is mountainous and rural just like Gorkha and is in huge need of ambulances for its poor and needy people. The ambulances given to municipalities/rural municipalities of these districts will benefit its surrounding districts as well in a greater extent.
Here are the maps of Gorkha District, and Nepal & Gandaki Province:
Nepal, still considered underdeveloped, is making progress in certain fields, a bit slower than other developing nations. However, it continues to face numerous challenges, particularly in rural areas, including inadequate transportation infrastructure. Medical transport, such as ambulances, is especially scarce in remote mountainous regions, where villages are connected by muddy dirt roads and lack sufficient public transportation options. This dearth of accessible vehicles forces many to travel long distances on foot or makeshift stretchers to reach the nearest health facilities.
Addressing this critical need is the Himalayan Ambulance project, which aims to provide vital ambulance services to sick individuals in rural communities of Gorkha and neighboring districts. With a target of distributing 20 ambulances, the first phase successfully deployed six vehicles to one municipality and four rural municipalities in Gorkha.
Building on this success, the second phase saw an additional seven ambulances distributed across one municipality and six rural municipalities in Gorkha, which makes the total to 13 ambulances benefiting the district’s health infrastructure. Completing the second phase ensures full coverage for all areas of Gorkha, benefiting a total population of 275,000.
The upcoming third phase aims to distribute the remaining seven ambulances to neighboring districts, including Manang, Lamjung, and Tanahun, responding to urgent requests from local communities in need. Upon completion, the project will serve over 1,500,000 individuals across Gandaki Province, equipped with essential medical supplies, including stretchers, oxygen cylinders, thermal guns, and other necessary equipment. These ambulances have also been modified to safely transport Covid-19 patients, addressing critical health needs during the pandemic.
Community & Local Government Support
This project has a huge support from both communities and local governments (municipalities and rural municipalities). They have expressed their commitments to make the project successful. The local governments will ensure the full running of the ambulances. They will separate money from their budgets for driver wages, fuel, vehicle repair & maintenance and other unforeseen expenses. In addition, ambulances have full support from the central government as well. The vehicle import tax can go up to 300% in Nepal but for ambulances, they can be imported without any tax fee.
Operations
Once the ambulances are handed over, they will be legally owned by receiving municipalities and rural municipalities. They hire the drivers and pay their wages & other government-allocated benefits. They will repair and maintain the ambulances along with the medical equipment.
There will be a certain amount of fee which will be collected from those can afford to pay. But for those who can’t pay and are from weak economic backgrounds, the ambulance service will be provided free of cost. The local governments have data about their population as they need for various development & governance purposes, so they will be able to properly identify who can and can’t afford the ambulances. Then they will accordingly ask for fees which will go towards paying the vehicle fuel.
The fees along with the annual government budgets will ensure the ambulance service continue to operate for many years into the future and the locals can receive their medical treatments faster.
We are delighted to announce the successful completion and handover of the Second Phase of the “Himalayan Ambulance Project.” The handover ceremony took place on January 4, 2024, at the District Coordination Committee in Gorkha, graced by the esteemed presence of the Honorable Chief Minister of Gandaki Province, Members of the National Assembly and State Assembly, Chairpersons/Vice-Chairpersons of rural municipalities/municipalities, Chairpersons of Health posts, and representatives from various offices, alongside the valuable participation of journalists.
In this phase, a total of 7 fully equipped 4 WD ambulances, along with additional health equipment, were delivered to the respective Health posts/Basic Hospital. Furthermore, as part of our commitment to enhancing healthcare services, 4 health workers have also been hired to provide assistance to patients both in the ambulances and health posts. The list of health posts benefiting from the ambulances includes:
| S. N | Health Post/Basic Hospital | Municipality/Rural Municipality | No. of Ambulances |
| 1. | Bhachchek Basic Hospital | Ajirkot Rural Municipality | 1 |
| 2. | Sirdibas Health Post | Tsum Nubri Rural Municipality | 1 |
| 3. | Shahid Prem Dhakal Smiriti Basic Hospital | Barpak Sulikot Rural Municipality | 1 |
| 4. | Darbung Health Post | Gandaki Rural Municipality | 1 |
| 5. | Thumi Health Post | Arughat Rural Municipality | 1 |
| 6. | Shreenathkot Health Post | Siranchowk Rural Municipality | 1 |
| 7. | Kotgadhi Basic Health Post | Palungtar Municipality | 1 |
The local government, authorities, and community members have expressed deep gratitude for the efforts of our organization. They have all highly appreciated our initiatives and have committed to using the materials properly and maintaining high-quality ambulance services. This widespread support underscores the positive impact of our work and strengthens our resolve to continue making meaningful contributions to the community.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all those who supported us throughout the duration of the project. Thank you for being a part of this meaningful endeavor.
After the successful completion of the first phase of the Himalayan Ambulance Project, the government representatives and the officials were extremely happy and grateful for the exemplary work done by our organization, Sambhav Nepal. Considering the need of the Gorkha district and the remaining rural municipalities and municipality, we are glad to announce for the second phase of the Himalayan Ambulance Project. The final proposal has been submitted and has been accepted by the Social Welfare Council, Nepal. Moreover, the donor has also given commitment letter for the financial support required for the completion of the project. In this second phase of the project, 7 fully equipped 4WD Ambulance will be distributed to the respective municipality and the rural municipalities. The municipality and the rural municipality to be benefited under this project with each Ambulance are:
This project will definitely benefit the people of these areas and the neighboring places as well. Furthermore, the project will move forward following its timeline in order to meet the goal in the estimated time period.
On June 09, 2021, we distributed 6 fully-equipped 4WD ambulances and essential medical supplies to 1 municipality and 4 rural municipalities of Gorkha district.
The distribution program was held at Gorkha Municipality Office and was attended by Chief District Officer of Gorkha, Chairpersons of the chosen municipalities and rural municipalities, community leaders, health workers and journalists. Our Founder Prem K Khatry represented Sambhav Nepal and personally handed over the ambulances along with medical supplies.
The government representatives and officials were extremely happy to have received the ambulances and medical equipment, especially now when the Covid-19 crisis has put great pressure in the health system of Gorkha. The ambulances are equipped with oxygen and essential medical equipment and are designed to carry the Covid-19 patients safely to hospitals and health posts. The ambulances and various medical supplies we provided will be a big help to the health system of Gorkha and assist local governments to fight this pandemic and bring the situation to normal levels. Once the Covid-19 crisis is over, the ambulances will be used as the transportation for all kinds of patients in the remote villages of Gorkha.
Though the project is for fully-equipped ambulances, we also distributed medical supplies such as PPEs, full oxygen cylinders with facemasks, nozzles, meters & regulators, surgical masks, hand sanitizers, thermal guns, pulse oxymeters, surgical gloves, antigen kits, VTMs and face shields. This is because Nepal is facing the second wave of Covid-19 and we decided the medical supplies are also extremely necessary right now. It was the right call in our part as the municipalities and rural municipalities were very happy with the medical equipment as they are working hard to control the Covid-19 crisis.
We are extremely grateful to all our supporters who helped us make this project a reality and help the people of Gorkha and improve their health situation. This has become our most popular project so far. Because our work is highly appreciated by all, we received national media coverage.
After the success of the first phase, we are receiving calls from locals and community leaders of the remaining municipalities and rural municipalities of Gorkha, and neighboring district such as Tanahun which is as mountainous and rural just like Gorkha and has a large number of poor and needy people who can’t afford to hire their vehicles for transfer of patients. They all want to improve their health system and fully-equipped ambulances is a great step in that direction, especially during the Covid-19 crisis. We obviously want to help them but that will depend on funding.
We are looking for donors to help us with the next phase for which we need the commitment for at least 7 ambulances. These 7 ambulances will cover the remaining municipalities and rural municipalities of the entire Gorkha district and then we can move to neighboring district of Tanahun and provide them 7 ambulances. If you are willing to help, please get in touch with us. If you want to help us with all 14 ambulances at once or even more, that will be the best.
The 4 rural municipalities and 1 urban municipality all have already given the order for their respective ambulances from the seller. The ambulances are manufactured in India, so they have to be brought from there. At the moment, the ambulances are at the customs office in the border between Nepal and India. The necessary paperwork for border clearance is in the process which can take some time. Once the ambulances are cleared, they will be delivered to Gorkha. We will make an update once the ambulances are successfully delivered.
We have completed a large part of the project. Currently our project is waiting for the local government offices of the selected Municipality and Rural Municipalities to open. They have closed their offices because of the Covid-19 pandemic and only provide emergency services.
We have completed the following tasks until now:
We have the following remaining works:
The project is estimated to be completed by May 31, 2021. But the project was affected by Covid-19 and lockdown. So, if we need to extend the project duration, we will do it accordingly.
Swiss Version