N.Z. nurse in Nepal

Press, 25 May 1977, Page 16

N.Z. nurse in Nepal

A New Zealand nurse, Miss Kay Bews, has been leading a medical team doing a survey on diphtheria and syphilis in Nepal for the Thomas A. Dooley Foundation of the United States.

The non-profit welfare agency, which is based in San Francisco, has been running medical assistance programmes in Nepalese villages since 1963. Nurse Bews joined one of the teams last year.

Miss Bews, who was born in Oamaru, gained a degree in sociology from the University of Canterbury and graduated from the Dunedin School of Nursing before going to London as a nurse. To get to remote villages Kay Bews and her assistants sometimes had to trek up rugged terrain for eight hours to set up temporary health survey and immunisation clinics. Her team did tests for the 'survey on its first visits to

villages, then returned twice to give treatments. Hundreds of patients were tested and treated at Dooley clinics, but co-operation varied depending largely on the guidance and enthusiasm of the village leaders.

Nurse Bews was often asked for -additional ‘care