Mental health-related structural stigma and discrimination in health and social policies in Nepal: A scoping review and synthesis.

AIMS: National policies can be used to reveal structural stigma and discrimination in relation to mental health. This review assesses how structural stigma and discrimination are manifested in the policies and legislations of Government of Nepal. METHODS: Scoping review methodology was followed to review policy documents (acts of parliament, legislation, policies, strategies, guidelines and official directives) drafted or amended after 2010. RESULTS: Eighty-nine policies were identified related to health, social welfare, development and regulations which were relevant to people with psychosocial and mental disabilities or have addressed the mental health agendas. Several critical policy failings and gaps are revealed, such as the use of stigmatizing language (e.g., 'insane' or 'lunatic'), inconsistencies within and between policies, deviation from international protocols defining legal capacity and consent, lack of inclusion of the mental health agenda in larger development policies and lack of cost-effective interventions and identification of financing mechanisms. Provisions for people living with mental health conditions included adequate standard of living; attaining standard mental health; the right to exercise legal capacity, liberty and security; freedom from torture or discrimination; and right to live independently. However, other policies contradicted these rights, such as prohibiting marriage, candidacy for and retention of positions of authority and vulnerability to imprisonment. CONCLUSION: Mental health-related structural stigma and discrimination in Nepal can be identified through the use of discriminator language and provisions in the policies. The structural stigma and discrimination may be addressed through revision of the discriminating policies, integrating the mental health agenda into larger national and provincial policies, and streamlining policies to comply with national and international protocols.

Developing, piloting and scaling-up of Nepal's neonatal care program.

The Community-based Newborn Care Package is a set of neonatal care interventions to be delivered through the existing government system of facility-based health workers and community based volunteers in Nepal. The package was developed by the government of Nepal in 2007 based on the evidence from Nepal and neighboring countries and designed to be implemented as a comprehensive package to improve newborn survival. This paper reviews the process, progress, and lessons learned from the program design, early-implementation and monitoring and provides future directives to improve upon this integrated package that uses a continuum of care approach from the pre-pregnancy to neonatal periods by involving the communities, health workers and the private sector.

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in ZH→ℓ(+)ℓ(-)bb production with the D0 detector in 9.7 fb(-1) of pp collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV.

We present a search for the standard model (SM) Higgs boson produced in association with a Z boson in 9.7 fb(-1) of pp collisions collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider at √s = 1.96 TeV. Selected events contain one reconstructed Z→e(+)e(-) or Z→µ(+)µ(-) candidate and at least two jets, including at least one jet identified as likely to contain a b quark. To validate the search procedure, we also measure the cross section for ZZ production in the same final state. It is found to be consistent with its SM prediction. We set upper limits on the ZH production cross section times branching ratio for H→bb at the 95% C.L. for Higgs boson masses 90 ≤ M(H) ≤ 150 GeV. The observed (expected) limit for M(H) = 125 GeV is 7.1 (5.1) times the SM cross section.

Search for charged higgs bosons decaying into top and bottom quarks in pp[over ] collisions.

We describe a search for production of a charged Higgs boson, qq[over ];{'}-->H;{+}, reconstructed in the tb[over ] final state in the mass range 180< or =M_{H;{+}}< or =300 GeV. The search was undertaken at the Fermilab Tevatron collider with a center-of-mass energy sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV and uses 0.9 fb;{-1} of data collected with the D0 detector. We find no evidence for charged Higgs boson production and set upper limits on the production cross section in the types I, II, and III two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDMs). An excluded region in the (M_{H;{+}}, tanbeta) plane for type I 2HDM is presented.

Search for pair production of doubly charged Higgs bosons in the H++H- - -->mu+ mu+ mu- mu- final state.

We report the results of a search for pair production of doubly charged Higgs bosons via pp over-->H++H - - X-->mu+ mu+ mu- mu- X at sqrt s=1.96 TeV. We use a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.1 fb(-1) collected from 2002 to 2006 by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. In the absence of an excess above the standard model background, lower mass limits of M(H L +/- +/-) >150 GeV/c2 and M(H R+/- +/-) >127 GeV/c2 at 95% C.L. are set, respectively, for left-handed and right-handed doubly charged Higgs bosons assuming a 100% branching ratio into muons.