Page 209 - Health, Population and Environment Education 10

to poverty, illiteracy, geographical difficulty, problems of social customs and traditions
etc. the health status of the people is not promoted. Many people in the villages still
believe in the traditional health practices, dhami, jhankri, etc. So, due to lack of proper
treatment of diseases, many people die even due to minor diseases. With the purpose of
making the health services and facilities easily accessible, Nepal Government and the
non-governmental organizations have jointly established different agencies to provide
health services to the people. Health services can be classified into the following fours
types:
a. Preventive Health Services b. Promotive Health Services

c. Curative Health Services d. Rehabilitative Health Services

a. Preventive Health Services
Preventive Health Services are based on the principle “Prevention is better than cure.”
It is better to prevent the diseases than spending a large amount of money on curing the
diseases. The health services provided to prevent diseases and their causes are considered
as preventive health services. Immunization, maintaining environmental sanitation,
personal hygiene, taking balanced diet, providing health education, managing clean
drinking water etc. help to prevent different types of diseases. So, they are included under
preventive health services. Similarly, prevention of diseases from an infected person to a
healthy person in different ways is also included under preventive health services.
Some of the preventive health services available in Nepal are as follows:

1. Family Planning and Maternal and Child Health Care Programme
2. National Immunization Programme
3. Programme to Control Diarrhoea and Respiratory Diseases

4. National Tuberculosis Control Programme
5. Leprosy Control Programme
6. Programmes to Control AIDS and Other Sexual Diseases
7. Programmes to Control Malaria and Kalazar

8. Programes to Raise Awareness
9. Health Education

10. Public Awareness Programmes for Environmental Sanitation

b. Promotive Health Services
Promotive Health Services refer to such health services which help to promote/ improve
the present health of the people. Marriage at appropriate age, maintaining birth spacing,
family planning, safe motherhood, infant and child health care etc. help to promote the
health condition. The programmes of nutrition, reproductive health education, maternal
and child health care, regular health check up programme etc. are included under
promotive health services. These programmes help to promote the health condition of
the people.
GREEN Health, Population and Environment Education Book-10 209