Oct 30, Kathmandu - Eighty-seven-year-old Lal Prasad Rai is delighted to receive health services close to home for the first time, after Mangsebung Rural Municipality opened a basic health centre in Todke.

Previously, residents had to walk for much of the day from Todke to Banjho in Chisopani Panchami for routine check-ups and regular medicines. The new centre is expected to benefit more than 200 households in Todke, Kusunde, Malibanse and nearby areas.

“We had to walk all day to reach Panchami even for a basic check-up or regular medicine,” Rai said. “Now we can get health services easily and on time.”

Seventy-three-year-old Phulkumari Rai said the centre has eased the burden on local residents, who previously had to make a long journey even for minor illnesses.

The rural municipality established the centre to serve communities that have long faced barriers to healthcare because of the area’s remote terrain. It will operate from a local women’s awareness centre building until a permanent facility is constructed.

Inaugurating the centre, Rural Municipality Chair Hemant Rai said it was established to improve access to healthcare in remote settlements. He said essential medicines, equipment and health workers had been arranged.

Two auxiliary health workers are currently assigned to the centre. Services include health check-ups, first aid, free medicines, health counselling and vaccination, according to health section chief Pradeep Kumar Rai.

The municipality, which has six wards, said the Todke centre is its tenth health institution. Vice-Chair Binod Nembang said it was set up to address the long distances residents of geographically expansive Todke had to travel for care.