KATHMANDU: Nepal Medical Association (NMA) and other concerned bodies urged the government to provide special facilites for elderly people such as nursing homes and health facilities as they were increasingly being neglected by the society.

Dr Kedar Narshing KC, president of NMA said that elderly people were being neglected by their children and society due to changing patterns in the norms and values of the society. "There are around 15 per cent of elderly people in Nepal and the state should bear the responsibility for their welfare," said KC.

KC argued that there should be a systematic, scientific and special management of health sector before declaring health as a 'fundamental right' in the new constitution. "Before declaring health as a fundamental right, the government should be more concerned towards infrastructure development and management of sufficient human resources," he said.

"There should be specific and clear-cut policies regarding health services such as maternity health service, health services to elderly people, vaccination programmes and programmes against epidemic," added KC.

He argued that the government should allocate at least ten per cent of the total budget for the health sector. He said that women, children, people from remote areas and marginalised groups should be given first priority while providing health services despite limited resources.

He urged the government to stop the unsystematic transfer of medical workers demanding security to them and health institutions.

He advocated for long and short term policies and strategies before declaring health as a fundamental right and emphasised the need of specific programmes and plans for both the rural and urban areas.

Though, NMA appreciated different provisions related to child health services, it argued that implementation of such programmes was less in real sense. It also demanded to end impunity and corruption in health sector.