Kathmandu, April 4

Nepal Medical Association has expressed its solidarity with the protest programmes announced by the Government Doctor’s Association of Nepal.

GODAN is scheduled to halt all health services, except emergency, throughout the country from tomorrow to pressure the government to address their demands. GODAN is dissatisfied with the government’s programme to adjust government doctors under the federal structure.

Issuing a press statement, NMA urged the government to address the demands of government doctors. NMA president Dr Mukti Ram Shrestha said the doctors should be given opportunity for developing their careers. “Before assigning consultant doctors at local and provincial levels, the government needs to arrange for necessary infrastructure, technology and services and facilities to doctors. Otherwise, their expertise will go in vain,” adds the statement.“We are with the GODAN in its protest programme,” he added.

On March 2, GODAN had withdrawn its protest programme after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli promised to address their demands, but to no avail.

Government doctors today gathered on the premises of Bir Hospital for further discussion on protest programmes. Their delegation met officials at the Ministry of Health and Population, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, requesting reconsideration of their adjustment program.

GODAN has appealed to all government doctors to support the protest programme and has requested them to collect their signatures for tendering en masse resignation to the MoHP.

“We have collected signatures of 700 out of 1,400 government doctors. If our demands are not met, we will resign from service as the adjustment papers are not acceptable to us,” said Dr Dipendra Pandey, GODAN president.