Citizens urged to utilise health services in Bagmati Province

Kathmandu, Sept. 22: The Bagmati Province government has urged its citizens to utilise the services provided under the province's Social Health Security Programme and Chief Minister-Public Health Programme. 

According to the Bagmati Province Ministry of Health, Bagmati's citizens will get blood-related services for free from all 13 district hospitals, and 13 other tertiary hospitals.

The other 13 hospitals include Patan Hospital, Bir Hospital, Dhulikhel Hospital, Kanti Children's Hospital, Paropakar Maternity and Women's Hospital, Bharatpur Hospital, BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, National Trauma Centre, Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Centre, Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), and Civil Service Hospital.

The Bagmati Province Health Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Nepal Red Cross Society to provide free blood-related services to the province's citizens from the designated health centres.

Similarly, the provincial ministry also signed MoUs with 18 hospitals, including government and private, for economic assistance in the treatment of cancer patients. "The federal government provides Rs. 100,000 to cancer patients from poor families. The Bagmati Province government will provide an additional Rs. 50,000 for such patients," said Uttam Joshi, Bagmati Province Minister for Health.

Of the 18 hospitals for cancer treatment, 10 are government hospitals – Bir Hospital, TUTH, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Paropakar Maternity and Women's Hospital, Kanti Children's Hospital, Civil Service Hospital, Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Centre, BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital and Dhulikhel Hospital.

The other eight private hospitals include Chitwan Medical College and Teaching Hospital, B&B Hospital, Cancer Care Nepal, Kathmandu Cancer Centre, Nepal Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, National City Hospital, Bharatpur Central Hospital and Nepal Mediciti.

Likewise, the Bagmati Province has also signed MoUs with three hospitals, other than the 13 district hospitals, to provide additional support of Rs. 50,000 to heart attack patients. They include Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre, Bharatpur Hospital and Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Centre. According to the Bagmati Ministry of Health, the district hospitals did not have equipment and manpower for high-level heart-related treatment, but they would help gather ECG reports among others before referring the patients to the tertiary heart centres.

The MoUs were signed at an official programme organised by the provincial ministry at Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, on Thursday, in the presence of Federal Minister for Health and Population Mohan Bahadur Basnet.

"Despite the programmes of Bagmati in effect from previous years, there was a need to promote them. Only a few were aware of the support and facilities. We organised the MoU programme to promote the services," said Minister Joshi. In the last fiscal year 2022/23, the Bagmati Province government provided economic support worth Rs. 92,673,181 to 6,865 cancer patients. Similarly, nine patients received angioplasty services worth Rs. 654,500 from the Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre during the same period.

An official at the provincial ministry informed that a citizen of Bagmati can utilise the services after self-declaring him/her as poor.

"The provincial government will also pay half of the premium of the health insurance scheme for women health workers. There are around 10,000 women health workers under the Bagmati government," said Minister Joshi. The Bagmati Province government had also handed over health insurance cards to two women health workers after half of their premiums was paid by Minister Basnet and Provincial Minister Joshi.

On the other hand, the provincial government has also stated that it will pay all the premiums of individuals living in orphanages or elderly homes, those with disabilities (A and B categories), and families belonging to marginalised communities.

Bagmati Province has also announced free dental services to citizens aged over 65 years old.