President's Message The world is full of humble, caring and smart people. However, inequity, injustice and disparity also exist in the world. Until and unless a fair system is established and maintained in each and every state, the healthcare disparity will exist in the world. I believe that the passionate and humanitarian citizens around the world should be united and come forward advocating equity and justice in health care. Dream, hope, passion and volunteerism in improving the health of marginalized, neglected and disenfranchised people of any scale will have huge impacts in the lives of people in dire need. Even if we can have positive impacts on the health of a single person, that will be able to create momentum for progress. Our ultimate happiness might result from our ability in bringing smiles on the innocent faces of vulnerable people including children, mothers and senior citizens. Following the similar theme, a few of us started a journey of passion and volunteerism as Health Foundation Nepal (HFN) in the USA and Nepal, formally, in 2013. Our dream was to improve the health of the whole community, not just of an individual, through a community based innovative approach. Our passion was to be the change we wanted to inspire. Our hope was to create a ripple effect of volunteering by starting from ourselves to achieve our goal of improving the health of the entire community. The idea was amazing, but translating the idea into action was not an easy task when we started as a small group of students and trainees in 2013. However, many of our ideas have already been translated into reality because of the help and support from so many of you, members and supporters of HFN around the world. While reflecting on the last 10 years journey of HFN, we can clearly feel the difference in the lives of thousands of people in underserved communities of Nepal we have made. Saving and improving lives of hundreds of children with severe forms of malnutrition; empowering thousands of school children with computer and health literacy programs; improving mental health of hundreds of pregnant and postpartum mothers; rescuing and transforming numerous lives of people with serious mental illness; promoting general wellbeing and mental health of lonely and neglected senior citizens; preventing deadly non-communicable diseases by identifying and treating high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic kidney diseases and risky behaviors including smoking and alcohol use; and starting health care for neglected indigenous (Chepang) people are some of the ways HFN has been bring smiles on the innocent faces of people in Nepal. The journey of HFN to reduce the disparity, inequity and injustice in health care in Nepal has been challenging and rewarding at the same time. Without community support and the support from all the HFN members and supporters, translating the ideas into action would not have been possible. I appreciate the moral, intellectual, psychological, physical and financial support of each and every one of you in our journey as responsible global citizens to support people in need and in turn palpate our own happiness. Please bring your innovative ideas and we will work together to translate your ideas into action. On behalf of HFN, I wish you and your family a healthy and peaceful life ahead. Shreedhar Paudel, MD, MPH Cofounder, founding director and President, Health Foundation Nepal Psychiatrist, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston Jointly with Drona Pandeya, MSCLS, MLS, SC(ASCP)CM Vice President, Health Foundation Nepal Laboratory Supervisor, Clinical Pathology Laboratories Sonic Healthcare USA Sushrusha Arjyal, MD Vice President, Health Foundation Nepal Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor, Duke University School of Medicine

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