Renal patients having hard time to reach hospitals for dialysis

KATHMANDU, Dec 16: Rabi Byalkoti, a renal patient from Thankot, has been compelled to use ambulance to commute to hospital for dialysis as taxis have hiked their fare by several folds. Due to the scarcity of fuel resulting from the blockade imposed by India on Nepal, he has been left with no other options because using the overcrowded public vehicles is out of question considering his fragile health.

"I cannot afford taxis anymore," Bayalkoti, who has to undergo dialysis twice a week, complained, "Nor can I travel on the roof of buses or get squeezed inside the packed vehicles like normal people."Bayalkoti of Thankot, Kathmandu has been receiving dialysis service at the National Kidney Center (NKC) at Banasthali for one year. He used to travel in public vehicles like buses and micro buses until the India-imposed economic blockade resulted in jam-packed situation.

"Hundred rupees was enough for me and my mother to go to hospital for dialysis and return home then," said the 28-year-old Bayalkoti, adding, "Now the taxis demand Rs 3,500 as fare for both ways."

His mother Rita informed that the ambulances charge Rs 1,000, which is very cheap compare to the taxis.

"We are left with no choice except using ambulance," she complained. She said that she has been using ambulances twice a week to take her son to the dialysis center.

Due to the shortage of cooking gas, she has been compelled to use firewood to cook meals for her son. The blockade has also affected the food schedules of her son. Moreover, the NKC has reduced the dialysis period by one hour, which has made direct impact on her son's health. She complained that there is no one else in the family to make ends meet and the ongoing blockade has adding insult to their injuries.

Prabhu Gurung of Rumjatar has a similar tale to tell. He rued that he has been compelled to pay exorbitant taxi fares to take his 79-year-old mother suffering from kidney problems to hospital. Gurung, who resides at Saraswati Nagar of Kapan in Kathmandu, said that taxis used to charge Rs 700 prior to the India-imposed blockade.

"Taxis used to charge Rs 700 for both ways' fare," said Gurung, adding, "Now they demand Rs 4,000."

Since India chocked supplies of essentials, including fuel, black market of petroleum products has boomed in the country. Gurung said that the taxi drivers argue that their demand of Rs 4,000 is not a big deal as they have to purchase petrol for Rs 500 per liter in the black market.

Big hospitals in the capital say that the number of patients visiting hospitals' out patients department (OPD) has gone down by 50 percent. "That means people have been forced to suffer silently at home," Dr Swyam Prakash Pandit, director at the Bir Hospital, said.

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