Brepal - who we are

Yet another association to help Nepalese in need?

Our answer is a clear „Yes“.

Dr. med. Klaus Eckert, our chairman, had good reasons for the foundation of Brepal. He has known Nepal since 1998,not only as a tourist but also professionally. During various assignments as a doctor in Nepal, he came to to understand how the Nepalese health system works, or better, how it should work.

While there are numerous NGOs providing help in the Katmandu-Valley by now, many rural areas are almost completely neglected, especially in terms of medical care. Both doctors and nurses are well trained in Nepal. All major drugs as well as hospitals offering modern treatments such as heart surgeries, kidney transplantations and hemodialyses can be found in Kathmandu. So medical care is generally available,

but

• Few Nepalese can afford it. There is no health insurance and the government neglects its duty as free healthcare provider.

• Good medical care exists only in the Katmandu-Valley. In the state-district-hospitals sufficient help is rare.

• Most Nepalese doctors do not want to leave Katmandu after their training. They enjoy the comfort and the perks of a large city or take the opportunity to leave for Canada, England or the United States. This way, Nepal looses its best doctors every year.

• Public health posts in rural areas are scarce and poorly equipped. Free drugs are only sporadically delivered. The heads of these health posts are poorly trained.

Therefore the lack of adequate medical infrastructure makes many people in rural areas -especially children - die from trivial diseases on a regular basis.

Klaus Eckert, who is from Bremen, a major city in Northern Germany, convinced other people from his hometown to help him set up health posts in rural areas of Nepal. This connection Bremen-Nepal became Brepal, our association, which has been officially approved as a non-profit organization since November 15th 2011.

In September 2011, we started a small project in the province of Gulmi, a 16 hour car ride from Kathmandu.