Kathmandu, June 21: Discussions on the appropriation heads pertaining to the Health Ministry under the Appropriation Bill-2057 began at the meeting of the House of Representatives the other day.
Netra Lal Shrestha of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Dr. Banshidhar Mishra of the CPN-UML presented two separate proposals for reducing Rs 100 from the amount under Apropriation Bill-2057 of the Health Ministry.
Taking part at the discussion on the proposal for reducing the expenses, N Shrestha of the RPP said HMG has not performed as per the slogan of health for all by 2000, the programmes targeted by the Ninth Plan have not been effective, and the rural people have been dying due to lack of basic health services.
MP Shrestha said the children in the remote and poverty stricken areas have been dying due to lack of ‘Jeewanjal” and other rehydration treatment, the average age of the residents of Mugu District is only 25, no office has been established even after the construction of the building of the dimmure health office in Salyan District 10 years ago and the people in the villages have to rely on the faith healers for lack of doctors and medicines.
He demanded arrangements of health workers for postmortem in each districts, check on commercialisation in the health sector and misue of medicines sent to the district.
Presenting the proposal for reducing expenses, Dr. Mishra accused the government of unheeding to national and international commitments and of failure to spend even the appropriated budget in the health sector.
He called for equipping the local health institutions, creating a congenial atmosphere for the doctors to go to the rural areas, making the accounts of the health institutions more transparent, and equal facilities for the employees and doctors of various institutions.
He accused the Ministry of being involved in taking commission while providing health services to the people.
Homnath Dahal of the Nepali Congress drew attention towards making arrangements for potable drinking water as 80 per cent of the diseases are attributed to water, the works of the regional health directorate and the district public health offices be made effective, and attention given to the problems of drinking water in the capital.
He appreciated the government of being successful in such challenging work as administering of polio drops.
Ghanendra Basnet of the CPN-UML expressed resentment over negligence in government hospitals, no attention given to the disorders of essential equipment in the hospitals, situation in Bhojpur district hospital under which doctors have to be brought from Biratnagar to conduct postmortem even when there are posts for three doctors in the hospital, situation created under which peons have to distribute medicines in the health posts.
Narayan Prakash Saud of Nepali Congress drew the attention to towards the lack of health workers in the hospitals and the health posts. Arrangements should be made for doctors in the district to end the situation of taking a doctor from the centre for conducting postmortem in the hilly districts. He requested the government for the resolution of problems that the people of Kanchanpur have been suffering from diseases like encephalitis, meningitis and Malaria.
Jagadish Prasad Saha of the CPN-UML said attention should be given to the lack of equipment like x-ray in the government hospitals, doctors should be available as per the posts in the hospitals, and the capacity of the Rajbiraj hospital be extended to 50 beds. Stating that only basic treatment facilities are available at Rajbiraj due to lack of medicines and doctors even though it is a zonal Hospital, he complained on the curtailing of quota of a ayurvedic hospital in Saptari.
Buddhiman Tamang of the RPP said 15 per cent of the total budget should be allocated for health and emphasis should be given to ayurved hospitals. As the medium level health workers of the district are headquarters-oriented they should be sent to the villages, he said, adding the problems should be solved as the medicines in the health posts and sub-health posts are of substandard in quality, less in quantity and not reaching the places in time. He drew the attention of the government towards the situation under which budget to build a primary health centre in Salyantar of Dhading district is going to be freezed because of delay in sanctioning the budget.
NC’s Ram Kumar Chaudhary, Laxman Prasad Mehta and Hridayaram Thani expressed the view that the government should given due attention towards providing essential number of doctors and modern equipment to health centres and sub-centres, increase the post of doctors in Sunsari district hospital, run district health centres and health posts in an effective manner and to wipe out scarcity of beds and doctors in hospitals.
RPP’s Brijesh Kumar Gupta said the programmes of the government do not meet its target of extending health services to everyone by 2000, public awareness programmes should be carried out to control the population growth and doctors should be encouraged to work in the remote areas.
CPN-UML’s Sushila Nepal, Yadav Bahadur Rayamajhi and Bijaya Subba spoke of the need to introduce effective programmes to control smoking and drinking, family planning should be developed as a family welfare, programme and attention should be given towards improving the condition of the district and zonal hospitals.
MPs Shiva Kumar Basnet and Haribhakta Ahikari of Nepali Congress said health education should be expanded at the people’s level, ayurvedic treatment system should be promoted, emphasis should be given to the effective implementation of the budget allocated for the health sector and that liquor and cigarattes should be prohibited inside Singha Durbar.
CPN-UML’s Dan Bahadur Chaudhary and Tilkumar Meyangbo demanded that the government improve the conditions of health post and health centres, give special emphasis towards fulfilling the target to providing health services to everyone by 2000 and build primary health centres buildings in the country.
CPN-UML’s Sherdhan Rai and Shiva Bahadur Deuja complained that the health situation is miserable in the country, health posts have been left unmanaged, there is a lack of safe drinking water and the budget is silent on providing health services to the poor. He spoke of the need to free the health sector from politics and to set up a district hospital in Kavre district.
NC’s Ramesh Datta Lekhak, Rajendra Kharel and Ramchandra Tiwari said budgetary allocations made in the health sector for establishing health posts in the villages are positive aspects of the budget.
They stressed the need to make provisions requiring doctors to mandatorily serve in rural areas, provide health services to the people across the Mahakali River, allocate Rs 10 million for drinking water management at Bir Hospital, continue programme to check HIV and provide medicines for snake bites in every health post and sub-health post.
Shankarnath Sharma and Durga Likhan of the CPN-UML said only a limited number of people have access to health services, the “Health for All” slogan is yet to be translated into action, district hospitals are in a doldrums and there is only one doctor at Dhankuta Hospital.
NC’s Narayan Sharma Paudel noted that the government should serious to ensure that no one loses his or her life due to deprivation and special programmes should be devised for sending doctors to the villages.
CPN-UML’s Bir Bahadur Lama observed that the budget appropriated for the health sector is nothing more than an eyewash and the health policy is against the national interests.
Sabitri Bogati, Shiva Raj Joshi, Shankar Prasad Pandey and Shiva Prasad Humagain of Nepali Congress stressed the need to pay special attention to further reduce maternity and child mortality rate, establish one maternity home each in all five development regions, improve the condition of Singha Durbar Baidyakhana, produce medicines in the country by processing available medicinal herbs, fix 30 years as the service period of doctors, provide 25 per cent discount on the treatment cost for helpless and elderly people in government hospitals, establish a government hospital in Kavre and make necessary arrangements for providing postmortum facility in the district hospitals.
CPN-UML’s Yog Narayan Yadav, Nara Bahadur Hamal and Chandra Bahadur Shahi complained about the absence of doctors in the district hospitals and indifference towards the construction of the proposed 15-bed hospital in Mugu and stressed the need to establish a communicable diseases hospital in Janakpur in view of the regular outbreak of Kala Azar and Malaria in the Terai belt, make arrangements for providing free treatment to poor people, establish more ayurved hospitals, make it mandatory for doctors to be present where they are posted and supply medicines to the Karnali area on time.
Nara Bahadur Budhathoki, Omprasad Ojha, Som Prasad Pandey, Ratna Prasad Neupane and Gorakh Bahadur Bogati spoke about the very poor health services in the villages and lack of preservation and management of medicinal plants available in the country and said that the arrangements should be made for the doctors to be compulsorily present in rural areas, make the health policy people-oriented, bring the already established district hospital in Jumla into operation and provide adequate medicines to the health posts and sub health posts in the villages.