Of that, 142 people died due to the epidemic in Jajarkot district alone. At least 38 people have died due to diarrhea in Rukum, six people in Dailekh, three each in Dolpa and Achham districts, two persons each in Bajura, Dadeldhura, Doti, Surkhet districts and one each in Rolpa, Salyan, Kanchanpur and Baitadi districts, said Minister of State for Health and Population, Khadka Bahadur Basyal Sarki at a meeting called by the parliamentary committee on International Relations and Human Rights. [break]
He briefed the parliamentary committee it sought explanation over the diarrhea epidemic from the Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Minister of State Basyal Sarki.
According to the report of the EDCD read out by the minister, the government has provided treatment to 26,990 people in 14 districts affected by the epidemic so far. The department has categorized Jajarkot and Rukum districts as extremely affected districts. Other affected districts are Dolpa, Rolpa, Salyan, Dailekh, Bajura, Dadeldhura, Doti, Surkhet, Kanchanpur, Pyuthan, Achham, Baitadi, Dhading and Kailali districts.
Altogether 29 doctors and 326 other health workers have been deployed in the diarrhea-hit districts and 70 health camps are in the areas. Also, a team of 40 Nepal Army (NA) personnel including two doctors, a team of eight Nepal Police including two doctors and a team of eight Armed Police Force (APF) including two APF doctors have been deployed in the areas. The health ministry has sent a team of 132 staffers and 22 doctors while one more team of seven persons including two doctors from other organizations also are in the affected areas.
The department said that the government has so far sent medicines worth Rs. 17.5 million in the areas.
In the meeting, Prime Minister Nepal urged other political party leaders to help the government in tackling the grave situation. He said the government is doing its best to stop the epidemic from further spreading and provide relief to the affected people.
Sack Health Minister Chaudhary: Lawmakers
In the meeting, members of the committee demanded that Health Minister Umakant Chaudhary be sacked for his alleged "irresponsible and ineffective" performance in tackling the epidemic.
The lawmakers came down heavily on Chaudhary for his Europe visit at a time when hundreds of people have died due to the epidemic.
"The health minister should be fired for his irresponsible role in such a grave situation," said CA member Radha Gyawali, who is also a central committee member of ruling Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist).
CP Gajurel of Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Kamala Thapa of Nepali Congress and Narayanman Bijukchhe of Nepal Workers´ and Peasants´ Party also criticized the health minister for leaving for Europe during the critical time.
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