BPH

Fourth Year
Eighth Semester

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 PHM 451 Disaster Management
BPH, Fourth Year, Eighth Semester

Course Description
An education aspect of Disaster Management program is indispensable responsibility of health
Professional specifically of development aspects of health. The graduates need to have a clear
concept of disaster, planning, management cycle, disaster associated health issues and
emergency management.

Learning Objectives
Upon the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
▪ Describe the meaning, types, causes, consequences, and cycle, of disaster;
▪ List particular public health consequences of various types of disasters;
▪ Describe meaning, importance, goals, scope and process of disaster management;
▪ Describe the phases of disaster management with special reference to public health and
medical care services to be delivered during each phases of disaster management; and
▪ Review critically disaster related policy, plans, and programs of Nepal specifically
mentioning the public health aspects.

Course Contents

Unit I: Introduction to Disaster 8 hours

• Meaning and types of disaster
• Causes of disasters: natural and man made
• Consequences:
- Broad consequences
- Physical destruction/damages and loss of human resources (death, temporary
and permanent disability);
- Sectorial consequences- Health, medical, economic, social etc.
- Health and medical specific consequences-
• Public health infrastructural damages (damage to healthy housing, safe drinking water
supply system, toilets, kitchen gardens etc.)
• Emergence of public health issues including health risk factors and disease epidemics:
risk of malnutrition
• Damage of medical care infrastructures (hospitals, health centers, health posts, medical
supply stores)
• Interruption in public health and immediate medical care services
• Displacement of public health and medical care human resources
• Disaster cycle
• Review of recent disasters in Nepal Types, Causes, Consequences and rapid response

Unit II: Introduction to Disaster Management 4 hours

• Definition, Importance, goal and scope of disaster management
• Roles and responsibilities of public health practitioner during disasters and their
management
• Meaning and phases of disaster management cycle: Mitigation, preparedness, response
and recovery

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Unit III: Mitigation 6 hours
• Disaster Mitigation
• Mitigation strategies
• Hazard identification and vulnerability analysis
• The other side of development projects: Disaster vulnerability, impact
• The need for health impact assessment in designing development projects
• Mitigation type:
- Public heath mitigation
- Medical mitigation
- Sectorial mitigation,
• Critical overview of mitigation system in Nepal

Unit IV: Preparedness 7 hours

• Disaster Preparedness and planning, Element of preparedness, disaster
• Forecasting
• Overview of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) process
• Public health service and medical care preparedness
• Inter-sectoral preparedness
• Critical overview of disaster preparedness system in Nepal

Unit V: Response 15 hours

• Meaning, importance, objectives and scope of disaster response
• Public health response to disaster by type of disaster:
- Health promotive, health risk factors, injury and disease prevention, epidemic
control responses
- Encouragement response for early detection, treatment and compliance to treatment
- Supply, storage and distribution of emergency public health infrastructures and
commodities: healthy shelters, safe drinking water supply, make shift and
appropriate toilet facilities, solid and liquid waste disposal, food and nutrition
supplement, vaccines, first aid equipment and supplies, violence prevention
mechanisms, contraceptives, rescue facilities etc.
- Implementation of public health interventions:
a. Health education of the public
b. Policy and legal measures
c. Infrastructure building
d. Community organization, mobilization, participation and action
• Emergency medical care response
- Medical rescue
- Establishment of medical camps
- Transportation of victims to appropriate medical facilities
- Immediate medical and surgical treatment
- Medical counseling to the victims
- Immediate supply of medical-surgical equipment and supplies including drugs
- Mobilization of medical care teams
• Inter-sectoral response
- Evacuation
- Food supply
- Constructions
- Security

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 - Volunteer mobilization
- Financial and social support mobilization
• Critical overview of modern and traditional response systems to disasters in Nepal

Unit VI: Recovery 4 hours

• Meaning, importance, objectives and scope of disaster recovery and plan
• Post-disaster assessment and recovery
• Short-term and long-term recovery management

Unit VII: Disaster Related National Policies and Plans of Nepal 4 hours
• Overview of disaster management policies, plans and programs with particular
reference to public health and medical care related policy provisions

Reading Materials
1. Disaster management guideline, MOHP
2. Disaster management guideline, EDCD, MOHP
3. Disaster operational and response manual
4. Guidance Note 2011 for Preparing Disaster Preparedness & Response Plan
5. Public health guide in emergencies
6. Annual DDR report

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 PHM 451 Public Health Law and Acts
BPH, Fourth Year, Eighth Semester

Course Description
The public health laws and acts is one of the public health interventions. The purpose of this
course is to introduce in the area of public health administration and management to the legal
issues and different terminologies use on which the students will likely to face in their future
work setting in managing health care organization or institutions. It also helps students to be
familiar with the evolution of the public health law and it’s important in the area of health
service delivery. In practical situation many health workers have encounter different legal and
regularity issues due to increasing intersection between health service delivery and law.
Therefore, it is crucial for students to be familiar with basic legal notion about the operating
procedure of different health related activities at community and from grassroots level health
institution or organization to higher level and how legal rule and policy formulate and how to
interact effectively with legal representatives. This also provides practical knowledge to
identify legal issues and to understand the legal and ethical consequence of strategic decision.
This course helps students to understand the emerging health policy issues. It also develops
concept among students on the role of the courts in health policy and health service delivery;
how to recognize legal issues and communicate with legal representative; application or
removal basic tort (intentionally or unintentionally done) and legal responsibility; privacy and
confidentiality; regulatory oversight of health care systems, including quality of care; legal
requirements for access to health care; nondiscrimination; etc.

Learning Objectives
Upon the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
▪ Precise the terminologies use in health care services;
▪ Describe the concept of public health law;
▪ Traces the development of the public health law, its importance and sphere;
▪ Explain the essential characteristic and legal basis of public health law;
▪ Mention the theme of public health law, ethics and social justice;
▪ Critically review initiative on Public health law and role of health professional in health
service delivery, individual right and social responsibility; and
▪ Appraise Health service delivery of legal concern in Nepal context.

Course Contents

Unit I: Terminologies frequently used in Public Health Act and Law 6 hours
• Adjudicate, Affidavit, Common law, Decedent, Evidence, medical incident, Fraud,
Right, Tort, Assault, Battery, Informed consent, Privacy Invasion and Confidentiality,
Counseling, customary law, Bills, Order, Equity, Equality, Tabulating, Hearing
• Medical termination, Police case
• Act, Policy, Rule and regulation, Plan, Strategy
• Councils - Different health related councils and their legal responsibilities.

Unit II: Concepts, Definition, Evolution and Relation of Public Health Law and Art to
Deal with Health Issues and Factors Affecting Health 8 hours
• Concept of public health law and act
• Concept of public health law and ethics
• The Evolution of Public Health Law

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 • Conceptual foundation of public health law and act
• Concept of public health and equity and equality on Health
• Public health law in relation to equity
• Public health law and Medical jurisprudence
• Definition of public health Law, its objective and sources
• Act in public health
• Act in dealing with VUCA (volatility complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity) evidence
base health issues
• Art in dealing with environment, in communities and in individual behavior.
• Process of formulating public health law and act
• Types of public health laws

Unit III: Importance of Law and Sphere of Public Health Law 6 hours
• Law as a tool for the public’s health
• Health law vs public health law
• Individual right vs Public’s health
• Individual rights and public health powers, and role of law in modulating this conflict

Unit IV: Characteristic and Legal Basis of Public Health Law 6 hours
• Essential characteristics of public health law
• Public Health Regulation
• Legal basis of public health law
• Health in constitution
• Requirement of laws and regulation to achieve intended purpose
• Health need and barriers of law

Unit V: Theme of Public Health, Law and Ethics 8 hours

• Emerging themes of public health law:
- Government power and duty
- Coercion and limits on state power
- Government's partners in the "public health system”
- The population focusses
- Communities and civic participation
- The prevention orientation
- Social Justice
• Public Health, Law and Ethics
• Health law and social justice

Unit VI: Public Health Law in International and National Perspective 8 hours
• Global initiative on Equity in Health and Health Care in line to public health law
• Sustainable development goal and Public health law
• Role of the courts in health policy and health care
• Roles of health professionals; the roles and regulation of service delivery institutions in
context of Nepal
• Individual rights and social responsibilities

Unit VII: Health Service Delivery of Legal Concern in Nepal 6 hours

• Public Health, Policy, and Legal Approaches in context of Nepal

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 • Health care in Nepal and variety of legal problems
• Issues in the organization of the health care delivery system in Nepal
• Different laws and acts related to public health in Nepal
- Universal Health Coverage
- National Health Insurance

Reading Materials
1. Larry O. Gostin, Lowrence O. Gostin, Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restrain,
Revised and Expanded Second Edition, University of California Press Berkeley. Los
Angeles. London, The Milbank Memorial Fund New York. 2000
2. John Coggon, Keith Syrett, A. M. Viens , Public Health Law: Ethics, Governance, and
Regulation 1st Edition, Kindle Edition, 2017.
3. Gostin LO. Public Health Law in a New Century Part I: Law as a Tool to Advance the
Community's Health. JAMA. 2000;283(21):2837–2841.
4. Barbara Starfield; State of the Art in Research on Equity in Health. J Health Polit
Policy Law 1 February 2006; 31 (1): 11–32
5. Dennis Lee. Dealing with Risk in Healthcare Environment. August 2016.Royal SIngnal
Medal
6. National health Insurance policy 2013,
7. Health Insurance Act, 2017
8. WHO: Health System in Nepal: Challenges and Strategic Options, Nov 2007,
9. National Health Policy, 1991
10. National Health Policy, 2014
11. Second long term plan 1997-2015
12. Nepal law commission
13. Law management board Muluki yen, dewani
14. WHO FCTC and international health regulation, UN resolutions

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 PHA 451 Journal Club/Health Seminar
BPH, Fourth Year, Eighth Semester

Course Description
This course has been designed to understand the concepts, applications and management of
journal club/health seminars. This course provides students with the opportunity to develop
their skills in reading scientific literature, critically appraising scientific reports, and asking
analytical questions and presentation of scientific articles/papers.

Learning Objectives
Upon the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
▪ Describe the concept and need of journal club/ health seminar;
▪ Identify the major components of a scientific article/literature;
▪ Describe the process of critical appraisals of scientific literatures;
▪ Evaluate scientific literatures of public health (validity, evidences and application);
▪ Organize the critical appraisal of scientific articles and make a presentation;
▪ Identify and select the topic for seminar and develop the skills of presentation; and
▪ Write the report of journal club/health seminar and submit in the prescribed format.

Course Contents

Unit I: Introduction and Process Journal Club/Health Seminar 16 hours

• Concept and need of journal club/health seminar
• Scientific literature/article and its major components
• Critical appraisal process/methods of scientific literatures/evidences/studies/
approaches
• Method of evaluating scientific evidences (Checklist/tools)
• Validity of the results, results of the study and application of the findings
• Concept of cross referencing and its utility
• Guideline for critical appraisals for different types of scientific studies
- Critical appraisal of the Abstract/summary
- Critical appraisal of the Introduction
- Critical appraisal of the Methods
- Critical appraisal of the Results
- Critical appraisal of the Discussion/Conclusion
• Identification of topics, selection and development of a seminar paper in public health

Unit II: Preparation and Organization of Journal Club/Seminar 24 hours

• Selection of journal articles /topics for health seminar
• Perform Critical appraisal of selected/given research articles
• Present the appraised paper at journal club/ seminar
• (one will present and two key commenters from students for specific presentation, at
least two faculty members will comment/observe the journal club; for seminar at least
two faculties must monitor, observe/evaluate the seminar)
• Health seminar preparation and presentation

Unit III: Report Writing and Evaluation 8 hours

• Preparation and submission of journal club report/ health seminar

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 • Evaluation of journal club

Evaluation
This course carries full marks: 100; evaluated by two approaches:
• Internal evaluations: 80 percent marks will be internal evaluation (internal examiners
will assess the learning outcomes based on the understanding of the subject matter,
preparation and presentation at journal club/seminar, quality of report).
• External Examination: 20 percent will be the final examination; carried out by the
office of the Dean, FHS, PU. External examiner will organize a viva voce
examination (S/he will assess the student’s ability and performances through the
assessment of reports, practical skills of organizing journal club and appraisals of
scientific literatures).

Note: Program/faculty/school can select either journal club or seminar or both depending
upon the feasibility; however, the first priority will be the organization of journal club.

Reading Materials
1. http://www.cochrane.org
2. Greenhalgh, T. (2001). How to Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence Based Medicine.
BMJ Books.
3. Horsley, T., Hyde, C., Santesso, N., Parkes, J., Milne, R., & Stewart, R.
(2011). Teaching critical appraisal skills in healthcare settings. Cochrane Database
Syst Rev(11), Cd001270. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001270.pub2
4. Sharma, S. 2010, "Levels of evidence", Evidence-Based Ophthalmology, vol. 11, no. 2,
pp. 73-74.
5. Schwartz, M. D., Dowell, D., Aperi, J., & Kalet, A. (2007).Improving journal club
presentations, or, I can present that paper in under 10 minutes. ACP Journal Club,
147(1), A8-9.
6. Deenadayalan, Y., Grimmer-Somers, K., Prior, M., & Kumar, S. (2008). How to run an
effective journal club: a systematic review. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice,
14(5), 898-911. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2008.01050.x
7. Young JM, Solomon MJ. How to critically appraise an article. Nature Clinical Practice
Gastroenterology & Hepatology 2009;6:82–91. doi:10.1038/ncpgasthep1331

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 PHT 451 Public Health Dissertation
BPH, Fourth Year, Eighth Semester

Course Description
This course has been designed to develop the practical research skills including identification
of public health research problem and process of finding and revealing their solutions. The
course, therefore, demands the application of approaches, methods, and techniques of public
health research in real settings. The nature of the course is field based practical, consultation,
and supervision under the faculty. Students will contribute 48 hours in consultation with
supervisor and 180 hours in field (4-5 weeks) including data entry. The consultation is further
subdivided into proposal phase (24 hours) and dissertation phase (24 hours).

Learning Objectives
The course is aimed to develop the undergraduate an independent researcher. In so doing, s/he
should develop the research proposal and dissertation report in close supervision of supervisor
in given formats and guidelines by concerned program/school/ department.

Upon the successful completion of the course, the students will be able to:
• Identify and prioritize the research problem in public health;
• Develop the research proposal/protocol in a given format including research tool (s);
• Obtain ethical approval from IRC/IRB/NHRC for health research;
• Collect, enter, summarize, analyze and interpret the data by using Epidata and SPSS in
a scientific way;
• Develop the dissertation report in a given format including citation and referencing; and
• Disseminate the research findings.

Evaluation
This course carries full marks: 100; evaluated by two approaches as followings:

Activities/Indicators Exam Marks Total Remark

Weightage
Internal External
Consultation and field work at 15 - 15 Literature review;
proposal phase pretesting of tool
Proposal Presentation 5 10 15
Proposal Report 5 10 15
Total (Proposal Phase) 25 20 45
Consultation and field work at 15 - 15
dissertation phase
Dissertation Presentation 10 10 20
Dissertation Report 10 10 20

Total (Dissertation Phase) 35 20 55

Total 60 40 100

Internal evaluator(s) will be the dissertation supervisor(s) and the external examiner will be the
expert appointed by Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) of Pokhara University.

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Reading Materials
1. WHO. Health Research Methodology. 2nd Edition. World Health Organization, 2001,
Manila
2. Hoskins CN, Mariano C. Research in nursing and health: Understanding and using
quantitative and qualitative methods: Springer publishing company; 2004
3. Grove SK, Burns N, Gray J. Understanding nursing research: Building an evidence-
based practice: Elsevier Health Sciences; 2014.
4. Crotty M. The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research
process: Sage; 1998.
5. Brink H, Van der Walt C, Van Rensburg G. Fundamentals of research methodology for
health care professionals: Juta and Company Ltd; 2006.
6. Sharma, SK. Nursing Research and Biostatistics (2nd Ed).
7. Naisodomy R. Nursing Research.
8. Polit DF, Beck CT and Hungler (2001). Essentials of Nursing Research: Methods,
Appraisals, and Utilization (5th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott.
9. Polit, DF and Beck CT (2008). Nursing Research: Generating and assessing Evidence
for Nursing Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
10. Kothari, CR (2010). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques (2nd Ed.). New
Delhi, ND: New Age International (Pvt.)
11. Clough P and Nutbrown C. A Student's Guide to Research Methodology. Sage
12. Publication, 2002.
13. Kumar R. Research Methodology - A Step-By-Step Guide for Beginners. Sage
Publication, 1999.
14. National Ethical Guidelines for Health Research in Nepal, Available at Nepal Health
15. Research Council, July 2001.
16. Sapsford R. Survey Research. Sage Publication, 1999.
17. Smith PG, Morrow. Field Trials of Health Interventions in Developing Countries. 2nd
Edition, 1996.

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