The PM’s full confidence in the Nepali doctors has sent a positive message to the public that such a complex operation is possible here The second successful kidney transplant on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Maharajgunj on Wednesday has not only enhanced the confidence level of the doctors involved in the transplant but has also sent a positive message to the public that such a complex surgery can be carried out here. The transplant has given a new lease of life to the PM, who had been on regular dialysis for more than six months after the kidney transplanted on him some 12 years ago started malfunctioning. But he needs to stay away from one or the other kind of infection after he is discharged within a week or so. The surgery was performed by a team of nine Nepali doctors, although two Indian doctors, including the one who performed his first kidney transplant, were also present during the five-hour-long surgery. After the successful surgery, the doctors said he was in “good health and his vital signs were sound”. Samikshya Sangraula, the PM’s niece, who is in her thirties, had agreed to donate her left kidney to save the PM’s life. Her health condition is also normal. What she said after the operation made everybody emotional, “I donated my organ to him for the sake of the country’s future.” A large number of people from all walks of life had gathered at the TUTH premises, praying for the successful surgery and speedy recovery of the PM and his niece. Nepal Students’ Union, the student wing of the Nepali Congress, also held a candlelight function to pray for their speedy recovery, a rare occasion in Nepali politics. The team of doctors deserves special praise for their flawless performance in saving the PM’s life. The PM’s kidney transplant at the TUTH should compel the other leaders and high-profile people to think twice before they decide to go abroad for medical treatment. However, this is only a beginning. We need to do more to improve our healthcare system so that everyone has access to it and receives treatment at an affordable price. It is estimated that around 10 per cent of the country’s total population is suffering from renal disease, whose treatment costs a fortune. They need support from the government to lead a normal life. Many renal patients who had gathered at the TUTH were heard saying the PM would definitely do something to address their plight. A renal patient at a critical stage of life needs to undergo dialysis twice a week. But the government largesse hardly meets their treatment expenses. Most of the patients from outside Kathmandu need to visit the hospitals in the capital for such service, which is very expensive. So the government should introduce dialysis and transplant services in all the seven provinces, along with making a timely amendment to the Human Organ Transplant Act, 2072 B.S., which is very rigid and cumbersome. Doctors have advised the government to amend the Act in a manner that will allow anyone to donate a human organ, provided there is no financial dealing between the donor and the receiver. The Himalayan Times extends best wishes for the PM and Sangraula’s speedy recovery. Behind the mask In times of crisis, there will always be unscrupulous people trying to profit heavily from a shortage of goods in the market. This has happened many a time in the past, when the consumers paid heavily for cooking gas, medicines and food during shortages. With the world in the midst of the novel coronavirus scare, there is a shortage here of, among other things, face masks that health officials have asked the people to wear as a preventive measure. But the masks are being sold 3-6 times their price in the market, with the government unable to put a stop to the black marketing. Of course, we expect the government to carry out strict monitoring so as to curb the black marketing of not only masks but also drugs, whose stock will not last long if the coronavirus cannot be defeated soon. However, the traders and businessmen, as citizens of the country, also have the moral obligation to cooperate with the government and not fleece the consumers. The shortage here of masks and other essentials should also be an eye opener to the government that it is not good to depend too much on the import of goods and services that are critical for a country’s survival.