Construction of the approximately Rs 1.5 billion trauma center was completed by the Indian government in August, 2008, and it could have come into use by the end of 2008. But that has not happened for lack of action by the Nepal government. [break]
Trauma -- road accidents, burns, falls, assaults and other sudden musculoskeletal injuries--is internationally accepted as the leading cause of deaths under the age of 40. A trauma center provides complex, multi-disciplinary treatment, including neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery in order to give victims the best possible chance of survival and recovery.
Hundreds die of trauma in Nepal every year and most of them could have been saved by the 200-bed modern trauma center, claimed to be the most sophisticated in entire South Asia by Indian embassy sources.
The Indian government has not yet installed the medical equipment, to save on the warranty period which commences once the equipment is installed. “We can bring the center into operation within three months, if the Nepal government appoints doctors and other staff for the center,” claimed an Indian embassy official. The official said installation of the medical equipment would be completed within one month and training in India for the doctors and other staff, who will be handling the equipment, would need around three months, to make the center functional.
The Indian government also wants Nepal to formulate a long-term maintenance strategy for the center, whose operation cost is estimated at around Rs 3,000 per bed per day, so that it can rest assured the huge facility is run efficiently.
The official said the Indian ambassador has written twice to the health minister--in January, 2009 (to Giri Raj Mani Pokharel) and on August 17 (to Umakanta Chaudhary)--but the ministry has not responded yet. “Even Indian Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had talked with Nepal´s health minister during the WHO Regional Conference in Kathmandu in September, 2009,” the official disclosed.
The Nepali side, on the other hand, is playing the blame game over the issue. The health ministry blames the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) for the delay while NAMS passes the buck back to the ministry.
“Bir Hospital comes under NAMS and it is an autonomous body. NAMS should provide the list of doctors and staff to the Indian embassy to initiate the handover process,” Health Secretary Dr Praveen Mishra said.
NAMS Vice-Chancellor Dr CP Maskey, however, blames Health Minister Umakanta Chaudhary, with whom he has had an uneasy relationship since the Bir Hospital strike, for the delay. “He (minister) has not called the NAMS senate, which is supposed to be held at least twice a year, since he became minister (in May, 2009). The senate will decide the number of staffers and who to send for training,” Dr Maskey said.
“Minister Giri Raj Mani Pokharel (in the Maoist-led government) had formed a task force on the trauma center at the last senate around a year ago. But he was not around as minister when the task force submitted its report,” Dr Maskey answered when asked why NAMS did not complete the process before Chaudhary became minister.
Health Secretary Dr Mishra refuted Dr Maskey´s claims and said the senate is not required to select staffers to be sent for training. “Dr Maskey himself had twice canceled the senate about two months ago when the minister called it,” Dr Mishra countered. Dr Mishra conceded that the senate can´t be convened given the current uneasy relations with NAMS officials and it seems the trauma center will remain in limbo for much longer.
The 17,914 square-meter facility has five operation theaters, a library, a conference hall, separate rest and recreation rooms for doctors, nurses and paramedics and three cafeterias apart from 200 beds, and will require a staff of around 500 including doctors.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the eight-storey facility was signed in July, 2003 and construction started on October 10, 2006. The Indian government is to construct the building, provide lab furniture, medical equipment including medical gas manifold system and training for staff, as per the agreement.
premdhakal@myrepublica.com
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