Kathmandu, Feb. 28 -- The Ministry of Health and Population had planned to carry out an independent study on the effectiveness and impact of work being done by female community health volunteers serving throughout the country in the current fiscal year.

The programme, however, has been halted indefinitely, with its donor, the USAID, suspending funding.

"It is impossible to carry out the study in the current fiscal year even if other agencies or the government provide us with the required budget," said Hira Kumari Niraula, director of the Nursing and Social Security Division under the Department of Health Services. "Also, the report cannot be prepared in the current fiscal year [which ends mid-July]."

Along with the nationwide survey of...