What the Bhotekoshi flood revealed about Nepal’s health system

The emergency phase of the flood has largely been contained, but the most demanding work still lies ahead.

Disasters are often measured in lives lost, property damaged and infrastructure destroyed. However, something deeper must accompany the assessment: the strength and resilience of the institutions responsible for response. How effectively can these systems keep functioning when normal conditions collapse? Nepal’s recent Bhotekoshi flood became a real-time examination of the disaster health preparedness, leadership, coordination and resilience of the state and, by association, its institutions.