Ramechhap, January 9

Pregnant women are facing problems as halted surgery service has yet to come into operation due to the lack of manpower at Manthali Primary Health Centre in Ramechhap.

The health centre had started surgery service free of cost for 16 months just after the massive 2015 earthquakes. The service was halted just after 16 months of operation. The health centre had managed seven days of lodging and food for new mothers who gave birth to babies through surgery and provided clothes to the mothers as well as babies, among others. Around 152 women gave birth to babies through surgery within 16 months.

Expert doctors are needed to perform surgery in the health facility. The service was halted after experts left the health centre as their contract period got over. Manthali Primary Health Centre  said the halted service could not be brought into operation after the authority concerned paid no heed to deploy experts.

Economically weak pregnant women from rural areas a facing a hard time after the service came to a halt. The needy, Dalits and the marginalised, among other people in the district had benefited from the service. With the closure of surgery service in the health centre, the room has been padlocked and the equipment used for the surgery is gathering dust.