Launching of Rebuild for Resilience and COSTAR in Kapilvastu

In presence of key stakeholders in the local health system, HERD International launched two projects- Rebuild for Resilience (R4R) and Community Solutions to Antimicrobial Resistance (COSTAR) in Kapilvastu municipality of Lumbini Province on 28 February 2021.

Health System Researcher from HERD International Achyut Raj Pandey presented the objective of the study followed by group discussions on health system fragility in the context of Kapilvastu districts including natural disaster, disease outbreak, changing pattern of disease, aging populations, the burden of disease and inappropriate use of antimicrobials.

Similarly, HERD International Research Uptake Manager Shreeman Sharma introduced COSTAR project. He presented the study objective and community engagement approach embedded in the study to address the Antimicrobial Resistance.

This event was conducted after a series of interactions with local government officials and chief of the health office. Local-level stakeholders including Deputy Mayor, Chief Administrative Officer and Health Coordinator of Kapilvastu Municipality reflected that the area of both studies were relevant to the municipality. Similarly, Health Office Chief of the district briefed participants about the nature of the research project and clarified that these studies may not offer immediate benefits but will guide the municipality while taking decisions by generating evidence.

In addition to government officials, the event was attended by the development partners working in health system strengthening and non-government organizations working in the health and livelihood sector.

Both Rebuild for Resilience and COSTAR are the consortium projects and HERD International is one of the international partners implementing these studies in Nepal. Rebuild for Resilience examines health system resilience in fragile settings experiencing violence, conflict, pandemics and other shocks. COSTAR Project co-creates, implements and evaluates an innovative intervention that addresses the contextual drivers of AMR.