Kathmandu, August 23

Although the government announced free kidney transplant services for all five months ago, The Maharajgunj based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital has failed to implement the health ministry’s directive in this regard.

“We had been expecting to get free transplant services, but Social Welfare Unit of the hospital informed us that the service is not available,” said Prashant Jha, 20, one of the kidney patients at the hospital. Prashant was referred to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital from Janakpur Zonal Hospital. He requested the hospital to make the service free as soon as possible.

“The hospital has not been able to provide free kidney transplant services due to lack of guidelines and government grant for the purpose,” said Dr Dipak Mahara, director at TU Teaching Hospital.

Dr Mahara further informed that he doubted if other government-owned health facilities were providing free kidney transplant services. He said the hospital would begin the services soon after it received the guidelines from the health ministry.

Bir Hospital and Human Organ Transplant Centre, Bhaktapur, have claimed that they started providing free transplant services immediately after the government’s announcement.

|Dr Pukar Chandra Shrestha, director of Human Organ Transplant Centre, Bhaktapur, said the hospital was providing free kidney transplant services.

Similarly, Dr Bhupendra Basnet, director of Bir Hospital, said the hospital had received the guidelines and provided transplant services to nearly 15 kidney patients till date.