Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 2:

A three-day All Nepal Medical Conference (ANEMECON)-22 began here today. The meet has been organised by the Nepal Medical Association (NMA).

The theme of the conference is “Health, Human Rights and Conflict”. Doctors from India, Bangladesh, America, Africa and Kuwait are also taking part.

Former president of NMA, Dr Laxman Poudel, inaugurated the conference. He called for radical changes in the medical field in order to transport health facilities to people living outside Kathmandu and away from the district headquaters.

On the occasion, Dr Kiran Prasad Shrestha, general secretary of NMA, read out the King’s message about the success of the conference.

Dr Manohar Prasad Gupta, outgoing president of NMA, stressed on the need for post-graduate courses in medicine in the country to meet the required demand for specialist doctors. “Government policies regarding hospital charges which also include VAT should be changed, and the high charges for doing internship in public hospitals should also be brought down,” he added.

Dr Sudha Sharma, newly-elected president of NMA, said there are lots of challenges ahead for NMA. She also called for a different recruitment procedure for doctors and a separate health service law.

Dr M M Haq of WHO said that the theme of the conference was important as it sought to address the present context of conflict, human rights issues and the role of medical personnel.

He said the quality of education as well as training to ensure quality service should also taken into consideration.