Andrew Carey

On 3 November 2023, at 11:47 PM (local time) an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on the Richter scale followed by several major aftershocks struck Jajarkot, Rukum West and five other districts in Karnali Province of Nepal.

The affected districts experienced more than 150 additional aftershocks as reported by National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center, with a magnitude of 3.3 Richter scale on average, on Saturday afternoon. This has only exacerbated the challenges faced by the affected population.

157 people have been confirmed dead and 184 injured and this figure is expected to rise.

The Britain Nepal Medical Trust would like to wish one of our Trustees, Dr Raghav Dhital, a very happy birthday as he turns 80 in early October.

Dr Dhital became a trustee of the Britain Nepal Medical Trust in 2012 after retiring as a GP in London.  Born in Nepal, he gained his medical degree from Bangladesh after which he practised in Nepal before coming to work in the UK. Throughout his career he has worked tirelessly towards fostering good will and friendship between the Nepalese and host community in the UK and has been awarded several prestigious decorations for his work including an OBE in 2007!

The Britain Nepal Medical Trust trustees met at the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Health office in London on 5th September 2023. The meeting was a chance for the Nepal team to update the trustees on their main research projects, such as IMPACT TB and the COVID-related Epidemic Intelligence programme. It was also a chance to welcome our two new members, Prof Sarah Barton and Prof Andy Ramsay.

We had our first face to face Trustees meeting since COVID in May 2023 at the Nepal Embassy.  Left to Right: Dr Maxine Caws, Jeff Mecaskey, Raghu Dhital, Gillian Holdsworth, Gyan Chandra Acharya – Nepal Ambassador, Dr Raghav Dhital, Dr Bob Fryatt, Dr Johnny Payne.