Dr. Aruna Uprety

Dr. Aruna Uprety is a public health specialist, women’s rights activist, and a strong advocate of healthy eating habits and lifestyles. She is also a Former President of Nepal Public Health Foundation. Dr. Uprety is the founder of Rural Health and Education Services Trust (R.H.E.S.T), which works to prevent trafficking and improve reproductive health, and one of the leading voices against ‘Chhaupadi’ in the Accham District.  She received her master’s degree in Arts from the Women and Development Institute of Social Studies the Hague, The Netherlands. She did her M.D from Kharkiv State Medical Institute Ukraine (Former Soviet Union).

She has worked with the Ministry of Health for about 8 years on maternity hospital and family planning projects. Her close hands-on experience in the maternity ward inspired her desire to advocate for women’s rights and health. Dr. Uprety was involved with many different Non-governmental organizations, which allowed her to travel to different Nepalese regions. She also worked in Afghanistan, Iran, India, Laos, China, Sri Lanka, Sudan as a public health specialist and gained experience. She learned about problems associated with malnutrition among children and its reasons while working in rural areas of Nepal. She had conducted research on reasons for malnutrition and advocated on how to reduce this. She learned about local food, health, cultural practice, and its importance for healthy living. She has written many articles on this issue and has presented her ideas in many national and international seminars.