Govt committed to provide free basic health services

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT 

Chitwan, Sept. 27: Minister for Health and Population Bhawani Prasad Khapung has said that the government is committed to providing basic health services free of charge in all places.

Addressing the 23rd annual function of BP Koirala Cancer Hospital, Bharatpur on Monday, Minister Khapung said that no one should be deprived of the basic health services, and it should be assured by solving the existing problems. He said that the ministry is working to make a sensitive area like health, provided by the constitution as an organised and complaint-free.

He said that the government has been providing 78 types of medicines to the public free of cost, and this service is being provided by all the government health facilities of three levels of government.

Minister Khapung requested the people to put it in the relevant authority if there are complaints about the basic health services. 

“People all over the world including Nepal are affected by non-communicable diseases,” said Minister Khapung and expressed concern that the families of such patients fall below the poverty line every year while spending millions on treatment. 

Minister Khapung said that the government is providing at least Rs. 100,000 per person for treatment for eight types of chronic diseases.

He said that the ministry is aware of the complaint by the hospital as they had not received the health insurance amount and could not deliver the services to the public.  

He urged the hospital to be sure of receiving the insurance amount even though it was delayed and requested not to halt the health insurance scheme. 

On the occasion, Minister Khapung promised that the government would purchase the PET scan machine to detect cancer and provide it to the cancer hospital soon.

Speaking at the programme, Umesh Shrestha, State Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, said that Chitwan is the best place for education and health sector. Chitwan is the best place for the convenience of citizens with the availability of health and education, he added. He said that it was necessary to develop the cancer hospital as an institution.

Shrestha said that manpower would be added if the hospital was developed as an educational institution. 

He committed that he would take initiative to develop the cancer hospital as a research centre.