KATHMANDU, Aug 22: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has introduced a provision to provide free treatment to the poor citizens. As per the Public Health Service Act, 69 big hospitals within the KMC should provide free treatment to the poor people up to 10 percent of their bed capacity.
Chief of KMC’s Public Health Department Ram Prasad Paudel said that they instructed the hospitals to strictly implement the provision of free treatment after they found during monitoring that the majority of hospitals were not providing free treatment to the patients in line with the Act.
According to Paudel, the Government of Nepal published the Health Institution Operation Standards 2077 on July 27. He insisted that the new standards make it mandatory for the hospitals to allocate 10 percent of the beds for free treatment of the poor.
10 pc pvt hospital beds free for needy: Minister Thapa
Paudel said that even though the law stipulates that every hospital should provide 10 percent of their beds for free services to the poor people, the rule has not been effectively implemented.
He said that the publication of the Public Health Service Act in the KMC’s gazette has laid a strong foundation for reforms in the health sector. Before the Public Health Service Act was enacted, the KMC did not have the right to implement the provision of providing free treatment services. Paudel informed Republica that the law has been formulated to ensure that the provision of free health service is strictly implemented.
Section 28 of the Act provides for provision of free treatment services. It mentions that the hospitals and health institutions established and operating within the KMC must provide free treatment to the target groups including the poor, helpless, unaccompanied people from any place in Nepal according to the prevailing laws. In Section 30 (6) of the Act, if the hospitals are found not to follow the laws or provide such service, they will face action including fine or sealing of the hospital that breach the law.
Paudel stated that a separate website is being prepared to keep help desks of the KMC in all big hospitals to support and recommend providing services to the poor and helpless people and to keep information on the status of the use of beds in all hospitals.
According to him, this app will be designed in such a way that the condition of the beds used in big hospitals within the KMC will be updated.
Paudel said that it has become mandatory for both private and government hospitals to provide free treatment services to the poor and the helpless patients recommended by the KMC. He said that the poor and the helpless people from any district living within the KMC will get relief after receiving free health services.
At least 50,000 poor people are expected to get such facilities annually. “Now that the law has been passed, a large number of those deprived of treatment will get health services,” said Paudel, “Earlier, poor citizens were deprived to even enter the doors of Norvic Hospital and Grande Hospital. Now that situation has come to an end.”
