KATHMANDU, March 10: Health Minister Gagan Thapa on Thursday said that the government is preparing to provide free transplant services to kidney patients.

Speaking at a function organized by the Nepal Kidney Foundation to mark the Kidney Day in Kathmandu, Minister Thapa said that preparations are underway to provide free kidney transplant services to patients from April.

The announcement from the minister comes following a government decision to bear the cost of dialysis in four dozen government and private hospitals in the country.

“We are planning to provide free kidney transplant services soon,” said Minister Thapa.
Health Minister Gagan Thapa has admitted that  providing free dialysis services and kidney transplants is not easy because of  a human resources crunch. “We are planning to produce specialists on different specialization from the medical colleges and zonal hospitals,” he said. “However, it will take three years to complete their study on the respective sectors.”

Minister Thapa further said that the fund for the free dialysis and kidney transplant would be provided from the health tax fund, which has remained unused. “It is a huge amount of funds to be spent on the treatment of people,” he said. 

The minister asked everyone to adopt preventive measures to save kidneys so that the state will have to bear less financial burden for the treatment. At the function, Dr Shakti Basnet stressed the need for regular health checkup and preventive measures.

 
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