Govt hospitals told to be prepared to combat possible epidemics

KATHMANDU, July 29: In a bid to prevent possible outbreak of epidemics during the monsoon season, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has asked all central and regional hospitals to have teams of health workers, including doctors, ready to be deployed in districts that are at prone to epidemics.

Thousands of people across the country get infected with water borne diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice, fever, among others."We have asked all the big hospitals to form a team of doctors that could be deployed in districts where major outbreaks occur," Dr Guna Raj Lohani, spokesperson at the MoHP, said. He claimed that the government is serious about the possible outbreak in the districts, especially the quake-hit 30 districts. Many health facilities in those districts have been damaged by the devastating earthquake. The MoHP said that half a dozen district hospitals collapsed in the earthquake and over 400 have been partially damaged.

According to spokesperson Lohani, the MoHP has alerted all the concerned agencies under the ministry about the possible epidemics. The ministry claimed that it has allocated sufficient budget for controlling the epidemics.

The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD), of the Department of Health Services (DoHS) said that it has also asked all central and regional government hospitals to be prepared to deploy health workers in the districts to control possible epidemics.

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