Overview
Department of Health Services was established with the purpose to deliver preventive, Promotive and curative health services across the country. The DoHS is one of 3 departments under Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP). According to the institutional framework of the Department of Health Services and Ministry of Health and Population, the health post (from an institutional viewpoint) is the first contact point for basic health services. However, in reality, the health Post is the referral center of the volunteer cadres of TBAs and FCHVs as well as a venue for community-based activities such as PHC outreach clinics and EPI clinics.
Each level above the Health Post is a referral point in a network from Health Post to Primary Health Care Centre (PHCC), on to district zonal and regional hospitals, and finally to specialty tertiary-care centers in Kathmandu. This referral hierarchy has been designed to ensure that the majority of the population receives public health and minor treatment in places accessible to them and at a price they can afford. Inversely, the system works as a sustaining mechanism for lower-levels by providing logistical, financial, supervisory, and technical support from the center to the periphery.
