Kathmandu, June 5: India and Nepal have agreed to expedite the setting up of an Emergency and Trauma Centre at Bir Hospital in Kathmandu with Indian assistance at a total cost of NRs. 650 million. The Agreed Minutes of the Meeting was signed by Director, AIIMS and Director, Bir Hospital on Saturday. Minister of Health, Dr. Ram Baran Yadav and Mr. K.V. Rajan, the Ambassador of India to Nepal, as well as a host of other dignitaries from India and Nepal were also present on the occasion, according to the Indian Embassy press statement released Sunday.

The Emergency and Trauma Centre has been conceived as a partnership project, to be developed jointly by the two Governments as a centre of excellence. The two sides have now agreed to complete all pre-construction formalities, including the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR), latest by September 2001. The understanding reached between the two countries for setting up of the Emergency and Trauma Centre would then be formalised in the form of a Bilateral Agreement, expected to be concluded by October 2001. The on-site construction would commence immediately thereafter in November 2001 and attain completion within a period of 24 months, the statement said.

India’s association with the development of Bir Hospital dates back to 1970. In 1984-85, a 5-storeyed OPD complex with the capacity to accommodate 2,500 out-patients and equipped with sophisticated facilities was constructed by the Government of India at a total cost of NRs. 960 million. Thereafter, a modern Nuclear Imaging Medicine Centre as well as other equipment for use in the OPD was provided by the Government of India at an additional cost of NRs. 480 million, making the Hospital a premier health care institution in Nepal.

The foundation stone for the Emergency and Trauma Centre at Bir Hospital was laid during Indian Prime Minister I.K. Gujral’s visit to Nepal in June 1997. The proposed Centre will essentially cater to medical and surgical emergencies and accident cases and will have a Central Monitoring Station with wireless links with ambulance vans. The Centre will have facilities for emergency care pertaining to Cardiology, Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, Anesthesiology, General Surgery, and Intern Medicine. The Emergency and Trauma Centre, which will be the first of its kind in Nepal, is proposed to be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities to cater to medical and surgical emergencies, as also for handing accident cases, the Indian Embassy said.