WHO announces Dhulikhel as Nepal’s first ‘healthy city’

KATHMANDU: The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced Kavrepalanchowk’s tourism town, Dhulikhel, as the first ‘healthy city’ of Nepal.

Meeting the WHO-set criteria, Dhulikhel has been successful in receiving a reward of USD 5,000 for being the second healthiest city in Asia.

Program Coordinator of WHO Department of Ethics and Social Determinants Dr Suvajee Good on Tuesday announced Nepal’s first healthy city and the second healthy city in Asia. With the announcement, Dhulikhel was entitled to receive a reward of USD 5,000.

India’s Pune City Banda is the first healthy city in Asia and Dhulikhel has been declared second with a score of 65.48.

Dhulikhel Mayor Ashok Kumar Byanju said that the city has been declared as the second healthy city in Asia and the first in Nepal and has received a prize of USD 5,000.

The announcement was made on the basis of policy reforms in the health sector, sustainable development goals of the health sector, environmental improvement, access to health of poor citizens, chronic diseases and communicable diseases and improvement in community health, as well as progress made in primary health care of the local government.