Who are we?
We are Canadian Nepalis and Friends of Nepal, concerned about the lack of paramedics and health care education and services in rural Nepal.
In August 2005, a steering group was set up for CNMS. It has been a long road, but since then we have achieved charity registration (#859619165RR0001), and formed a co-operative arrangement with PHeCT Nepal, a Nepali NGO in Kathmandu, for project management. Recently, we have also worked with other NGOs in our search for potential candidates for our paramedic training sponsorship. These partners include; Lions Club of Kathmandu, HEAL Nepal, Canadian Jesuits International and Mountain Village Development Board, Bajhang.
Our Mandate
We are committed to assisting villages in rural Nepal to acquire health care workers. With village involvement and support, we will provide scholarships to train paramedics to return to their village to provide care where none may now exist. The village is to participate in candidate selection and commit to post-training support. With this model, we hope to foster a sense of local involvement and project ownership.
The maternal mortality ratio in Nepal at 239 per 100,000 live births (in Canada the MMR is 8.3) is historically one of the highest in Asia and one of the leading causes of death for women of reproductive age. Indeed, there is a strong need for more comprehensive access to family planning in Nepal, particularly for those living in remote and rural areas where home births are almost universal. The situation is slowly improving with greater access to education and the government intends to increase their family planning budget by 7 percent each year. On October 15, 2018, Nepal’s House of Representatives unanimously passed a groundbreaking law, explicitly protecting the health and rights of women, girls, adolescents and newborns. CNMS is dedicated to suppporting the Nepali government's pledge to extend female healthcare access in Nepal: to 'leave no one behind' and 'reach the unreached'
Rural health care continues to be critical throughout Nepal, whether from recent dengue outbreaks, 100-year floods, prolonged monsoon seasons, poor maternity care or a myriad other factors. Through the efforts of CNMS and like-minded organizations adequate health care is provided for the disadvantaged. Our record of training paramedics and their subsequent service in caring for isolated villages demonstrates an effective way to help those in need.
Canada Nepal Medical Society will cease operations in 2025 after our currently sponsored student gaduates from her program. Donations will no longer be accepted. Thank you for your interest and support over the past 19 years.