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KEY Expertise

Dr Sushil Chandra Baral is an experienced heatlh and development expert of Nepal, specialising in health systems strengthening and health policy and planning at the national and international level. He has twenty five years of experience in health systems and services, health policy and planning, operational research and social development sector in developing countries context. He has got considerable professional experience in health system, health policy and planning, health service delivery, health research and programme management. He has contributed to the design of DFID’s support programme to Nepal Health Sector Programme 1 and 2, including design of technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and responsibly managed DFID support to the Ministry of Health under the health sector programme-1 and 2. He is skilled in programme based operational research and scale-up of evidence based best practices with a long-term involvement in Nepal's health sector in particular disease control programmes in developing countries. He has also gained considerable knowledge and experience in operational research, development of sector wide approach, health service decentralisation, health sector reform, strategic planning, health policy and management.

Cross Cutting experience

His areas of expertise include designing and managing large scale surveys as well as conducting monitoring and evaluation based studies as well as and programme based operational research, with gold standard quality controls. His other experiences encompass leading studies in the sector of education, local governance, gender and violence against women, migration, humanitarian response and social development.

Qualification

2011 - PhD in International Health from University of Leeds, UK

Work undertaken that best illustrates capability to handle the tasks assigned

  • Randomized Control Trial on TB and Tobacco: He is Country Lead for three-year (2016 to 2018) multi-country randomised control trial (RCT) study to test the integration of inexpensive tobacco cessation strategies of proven efficacy into TB control programmes. The RCT has two arms: (a) behavioural support including placebo; and (b) behavioural support including cytisine with nicotine replacement drug to be tested. This study is implemented in Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
  • Strengthening National Family Planning Programme: He is the Country Lead for this two year monitoring and evaluation project (mid-2014 to mid-2016) funded by DFID and USAID. This project is being implemented with the support of Mott MacDonald as technical oversight and coordinated through Family Health Division, Ministry of Health looking to accessibility of family planning services and key barriers in accessibility of family planning measures.
  • Developing a national strategy to deliver essential health care services in urban areas of Nepal: He is Team Leader for this project which involves working with Ministry of Health, especially Primary Health Care Revitalization Divison (PHCRD) to support the division in developing the strategy as well as implementation plan.
  • Core Technical Team Member in Development of National Health Sector Strategy and Implementation Plan 2016-2020
  • Technical Lead in Development of National Tuberculosis Strategic Plan (NSP) 2016-2020
  • Facilitation and Documentation of Joint Annual Reviews from 2012 to 2016

KEY PUBLICATIONS

  1. Baral SC, Aryal Y, Bhattrai R, King R and Newell JN. (2014). The importance of providing counseling and financial support to patients receiving treatment for multi-drug resistant TB: mixed method qualitative and pilot intervention studies. BMC Public Health. 14:46.
  2. Baral S; Newell J. (2012). Language in tuberculosis services. International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease August 2012, 16(8): 1129-1129 doi:10.5588/ijtld.12.0370
  3. Baral, S.C.; Karki, D.K.; Newell, J.N. (2007) Causes of stigma and discrimination associated with tuberculosis in Nepal: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 7, pp.211.