No Nepali will be deprived of medical treatment: Health Minister Basnet

Pushkar Bhandari,Dadeldhura, Jan. 2:Minister for Health and Population Mohan Bahadur Basnet has said that no Nepali will be deprived of medical treatment due to a lack of money. 

After inspecting the Dadeldhura Hospital, which is preparing to begin Bachelor in Medical Lab Technology (BMLT) classes next month, Minister Basnet said that health was a fundamental right and that the state would take responsibility for it. 

There have been instances of people having to leave hospitals due to poor financial condition and losing their lives at home, the Minister lamented. "The poor need not die.  The state should guarantee this. And, as the Health Minister and a representative of this state, I guarantee this," he remarked.

"If poverty prevents anyone from getting the treatment they need, send them to us. We will make sure they get the proper care. Nepalis should no longer have to die for not having money."

Basnet hoped that the medical college would transform the Dadeldhura Hospital, but advised it to proceed gradually. "You currently have a 100-bed hospital, but if you seek to add 400 more beds overnight, you may not be successful," he cautioned.

At the same time though, he said that the ministry had begun work to expand the hospital's capacity to 300 beds. "Things are currently held up at the Ministry of Finance, but I think it will pass." The Minister also shed light on the condition the Health Ministry was working in. The number of job positions at the ministry has not increased since 1997 and its budget ceiling had been decreased by 40 per cent this fiscal year. 

 "The Ministry of Finance said that they could not give more money because our ministry did not work last year. Nevertheless, we persuaded them to add Rs. 13 billion to our budget," he shared.  Despite the limited resources and bureaucratic hurdles, Basnet claimed that he was able to get the cabinet to pass some health policies and documents that had been pending for nearly 16 years.

Basnet emphasised the need for places like Dadeldhura to produce health workers from within their populace because those coming from outside do not stay for long. Noting that the district's hospital would begin BMLT classes from February 12, he urged to upgrade itself to be able to start Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) classes.

Vice-Chancellor of Far Western University Amma Raj Joshi informed that the Medical Education Commission had allowed the Dadeldhura Hospital to enrol 10 students for the BMLT course. Of them, seven students have already received admission with scholarships.

Joshi shared that they had asked the Commission to provide the hospital 20 seats but were granted only 10. "Nevertheless, we are happy to be taking this step into medical education and plan to begin MBBS classes three years later," he told The Rising Nepal.

Dadeldhura Hospital needs to have at least 300 beds before it can receive permission for MBBS classes.