KATHMANDU, APRIL 11
Bagmati Province Chief Minister Rajendra Prasad Pandey has said that educational institutions should be established according high importance to science and research.
Chief Minister Pandey was inaugurating the Eighth Health and Population Scientists Summit organised by Nepal Health Research Council here today. He stressed that educational institutions should be research-oriented, saying the Bagmati provincial government would promote health research in coordination with the council. CM Pandey believed that researches carried out in the health sector would support formulation of sound health policies.
Reiterating the need to produce capable physicians and scientists in the country itself, he said, "We have been sending students abroad for higher medical education instead of giving education to produce doctors within the country itself, we should produce skilled and capable human resources in the country itself." Minister of State for Health and Population Bhawani Prasad Khapung expressed the belief that the Summit would come up with suggestions for the government for formulating important health policies.
He said the country's health policy should be stable.
Bagmati province government Health Minister Nima Lama said a provincial health research council would be set up for conducting health research in the province. CPN-UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai said sensitive sectors such as health and education should not be politicised.
He stressed that quality health education should be provided at the ward level itself and people should be given free medical treatment by scaling up the budget for health and education sectors. National Planning Commission member Uma Shankar Prasad called on capable doctors to go to the rural areas and provide services to the needy people. He suggested opening pharmaceutical industries within the country itself as most of the medicines had to be imported from abroad.
The Summit has been organised with the slogan 'Promotion of Health Policy and System Research: Lessons for a Robust Health System in Nepal'.
NHRC Chief Dr Pradip Gyawali said the conference was organised to bring together health researchers, health experts, demographers, and policy makers to formulate policies and address the need for research on public health issues.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 12, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
