The Nepal oral health and nutrition project Hasilo Nepal is based on a project in El Salvador established in 2004 by Dr. Karen Sokal-Gutierrez, a professor at UC Berkeley. She observed that many of the malnourished children had decayed teeth, and the mothers explained that the tooth decay resulted in severe mouth pain which made their children unable to eat. Working with dentists, community health workers and volunteers, Dr. Sokal-Gutierrez created an oral health and nutrition program for children from 6 months to 6 years of age. The program focuses on preventing tooth decay and malnutrition by educating families about good nutrition (e.g., limiting sugary snacks and soda), providing toothpaste and toothbrushes, applying fluoride varnish to children’s teeth 2-3 times a year, and referring children with tooth decay to the local dentists for treatment. Over the past 5 years of the project, the project has been very successful in improving the mothers’ knowledge about nutrition and oral health, and reducing tooth decay, mouth pain and malnutrition in the children.

Nepal’s children also suffer from oral health and nutrition problems. Over 50% of Nepali children under age 5 are malnourished, the fourth highest malnutrition rate in the world. And approximately 67% of Nepali children have tooth decay. Learning about the problems of malnutrition and the poor oral health in Nepali children, Sidhanta decided to implement a project in Nepal, with Dr. Sokal-Gutierrez’s guidance, in hopes of achieving positive results, similar to those in El Salvador (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkrtF7NRNs8).

Sidhanta has been in contact with doctors and dentists in Nepal and plans to team with Dr. Shankar Rai from Model Hospital and dentist Dr. Bipul Singh. Sidhanta’s current goals for the project are to establish a relationship with a community health organization in Nepal and find funding for the project. A relationship with a community health organization is critical in order to make sure that the project is sustainable. He is currently looking for funding for the project and projects that the program will cost $10 per child per year.

Sidhanta Gurung graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelors degree in Economics with a focus on third world development. Although he was born in Oakland, California, his family is from Nepal and he visits Nepal often. He spent the summer of 2007 volunteering at the Nepal Orthopedic Hospital in Jorpati, Kathmandu, where he provided first aid care to emergency room patients. Seeing complicated health and treatment issues in Nepal that are easily resolved in America, and therefore are sometimes taken for granted, motivated him to focus his efforts on implementing a health program in Nepal that would be effective, practical, and sustainable. He is currently working as an Assistant Researcher at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and hopes to attend medical school in the near future.

Karen Sokal-Gutierrez is a physician trained in pediatrics, preventive medicine, and public health, with a focus on maternal-child health. She is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California, Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program where she is the Site Director for the Program in Medical Education for the Urban Underserved (PRIME-US), that recruits and trains students from diverse backgrounds who are committed to caring for underserved populations. She is also faculty for the problem-based learning medical curriculum, and advisor for students’ research. Her own research focuses on interventions to improve early childhood health locally and internationally, including children’s oral health and nutrition. Dr. Sokal-Gutierrez completed her undergraduate degree at Yale University, medical degree at UCSF, internship at Children’s Hospital Oakland, and preventive medicine residency and MPH at UC Berkeley. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a physician in community health clinics and a public health program administrator. She has 30 years of experience in international health, having worked in Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Cambodia.

If you have any questions about the project or know of any information that could be of use, please email Sidhanta Gurung at sidhanta@berkeley.edu. Thank you.