Nepal’s MEOR Program Monitors Health Outcomes

Highlights

As Nepal’s health indicators improve, the disease burden is changing.
Abt monitors the Nepal Health Sector Programme to inform project/policy changes.
Increased access to quality health services for all.

The Challenge

Despite its post-conflict legacy and the 2015 earthquake, Nepal continues to achieve substantial health progress. Critical health indicators are improving, including under-five and maternal mortality rates, but there are dramatically changing burden-of-disease patterns. Non-communicable diseases now account for two-thirds of the disease burden in the country. At the same time, the government has embarked on a major decentralization programme, which provides both opportunities and challenges for the health system.

The Approach

The MEOR project has oversight of NHSP3 reporting on performance and has a small research and analysis component to achieve several goals:

Improve NHSP3’s design, implementation and reporting
Validate its logical framework and theory of change
Generate evidence to inform stakeholder decision-making
Conduct operational research on intervention effectiveness and quality
Conduct research on broader health system efficiency
Share evidence with Nepal’s health system and strengthen its knowledge management capabilities to improve overall health policy

The Results

The MEOR component enables the Department for International Development (DFID) to make continuous improvements in and adaptations of its support for the National Health Sector Strategy (NHSS) to ensure achievement of intended impact and outcomes. MEOR has tracked and validated progress toward achievement of NHSP3 indicators; built evidence to inform NHSP3 and NHSS (2015–2020 delivery); and improved learning and programme adaptation based on available evidence.

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