What Norway & Co. are doing for health sector in Nepal ?

By: Bikal Dhungel

Norway is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It is a major exporter of Oil and Gas and is rich in other natural resources. Despite being a welfare state, it maintains highest living standard in the world and ranks highest in Human Development Index (HDI) for the last 6 years. Norway is not the part of European Union (EU) but of European Economic Area (EEA) and maintains its weight in international community especially as a part of the United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Norway not only homes the Nobel Committee which awards the Nobel Peace Prize, but also acts as one of the mediator of Peace.

Norway brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, so called ‘Oslo Accord’, it involved actively and helped to end the bloody civil war in Mali in 1995 and Guatemala in 1996. Some news agencies also report that Norway is involved in mediating peace with the Taliban. These efforts show that Norway is genuinely interested to solve worldly problems and continues to be a part of humanitarian missions throughout the world.

In addition to this, Norway is one of the most generous donors of Development Aid. It is one of the few countries that have crossed the threshold of 0.7% of GNI for Development Aid to reach the MDG. Norway provided highest amount of ODA in terms of percentage of GNI in 2013 ( OECD, 2013). In Nepal, Norway is one of the most important partners in health sector. Nepal is one of the speciality area of Norway. Since two decades, Norway established itself as a generous donor who among others supports the peace process between the Maoists and the government and involves in other issues related to it. In addition to the role of Norway, I will also highlight what other organisations or foundations are doing. The role of international actors in the health sector of Nepal cannot be ignored because the recent development in health sector was phenomenal but this was not only due to the achievement of health authorities in Nepal but most credit goes to international donors like Norway, Unicef and others. Thanks to their financial and technical support, Nepal increased its life expectancy by more than 12 years in two decades. In the year 2014, an average Nepali lives more than 70 years according to a report published in renowned journal, the Lancet.

All the data for this article was taken from the statistical database of Norad (Norwegian Aid Agency ) by the author. 

This figure shows total Norwegian Aid to Nepal in million Norwegian Kroner. It shows that from the year 2000, total aid was continually increasing until 2006. After 2006, there was a decreasing tendency. During the Financial Crisis of 2007 and 2008, total Norwegian Aid to Nepal also remained lower than the level of 2006. However, the year 2009 saw an increase which remained constant until 2011 and afterwards, moved downwards reaching below 200 million in 2013.

When we just look at the health sector in the figure below, it shows total Norwegian Health Aid to Nepal in million Norwegian Kroner. From 2000 to 2002, total amount was somewhat constant.  However, the year 2003 faced a dramatic reduction by more than a half but again a year after this amount was taken the same level as of 2002. It again stayed constant until 2006 but then dramatically decreased to less than 20 million and stayed at the same level until recently. 

 Similarly, when we compare the contribution of Norway in health expenditure, along with other south Asian partners, we will discover that Nepal gets more support in average than any other south Asian country. It remained between 1 to 3% of total expenditure from 2000 to 2006 but then decreased. 

And the table below shows the total expenditure in health by the countries themselves in billion US$.

Here again the number just for Nepal

Analysing the financial support by Unicef in South Asian Region, it becomes clear that Nepal is getting the most support. The figure below shows the Unicef support in million US$ from 2005 to 2012. 

(Data accumulated from Unicef Statistics)

Globally, the Unicef is an important player. The figure below shows the global health aid by Unicef. We see a decreasing trend from 2010, probably due to the lower amount of funding they receive from countries due to financial crisis. 

 The figure shows the annual grants of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for health. At the end of the tail, it also shows a decreasing trend. It might also be the decrease in the endowment of the fund. Financial crisis hit the businesses as sell will be lower. However, this is just a guess, can also be wrong why there is a decreasing trend.

Thanks to the great efforts from international bodies, health status of poorest countries like Nepal is improving. Only one figure is enough to tell the whole story, the life expectancy. Life expectancy is connected with various factors like improvement in healthcare facilities, medical infrastructures, increase in nutritional levels or calories, health related education etc. When things improve, people live longer. The life expectancy also increases when infant mortality rate decreases. Infant mortality rate again is connected to various issues like medical infra-structure, nutritional level of the mother, education of the mother and general health awareness. With the two figures below, I would like to end this article by thanking the international community especially organisations for their precious support.