In recent years, especially since the success of Janaandolan II in 2006, doctors and nurses on duty often became the target of physical attack by people those kin die in that fashion. In such situations, health institutions have been vandalized. These incidents have made medical professionals feel insecure.
The government took the decision on the fund on Wednesday to address a long-standing demand by medical professionals, said a senior government official.
The fund has five million rupees as seed money. Medical professionals and institutions are expected to donate to flatten the fund, the government official said.
“The health institutions that suffered vandalization will also be compensated from the fund,” said the official.
Medical professionals and health institutions have seen the worst cases of attack in recent years.
Available facts show that two nurses on duty were almost strangled to death by the mother of a six-month-old that died during treatment at Kanti Hospital in Kathmandu last March. The nurses faced a charge of negligence.
The same afternoon, a similar incident unfolded at the Western Regional Hospital in Pokhara after nine-year-old Akriti Gurung died while undergoing treatment. Relatives of the deceased girl staged demonstrations demanding action against the doctors involved.
The girl had died soon after she was administered an anti-rabies injection.
On July 8, 2008, relatives of one Narayan Bahadur Shah vandalized Everest Nursing Home at New Baneshwar after he died while undergoing treatment. They alleged that the death was due to negligence by the nursing home. Two other similar cases had occurred at the nursing home since May 24, 2006.
Another serious incident of assault on the medical establishment occurred on May 23, 2006 at Lumbini Zonal Hospital in Butwal.
A mob vandalized the hospital and two dozen private clinics. They also set an ambulance ablaze, alleging that a patient died due to doctor´s negligence. The agitators manhandled Dr Shree Krishna Giri, who revceived serious injuries to the head and neck.
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