The government must provide adequate human resources and advanced equipment to run the new health facilities in the local levels

The federal Ministry of Health and Population took the initiative to lay the foundation stones for 396 health centres across the country on Monday with a view to providing easy and affordable health services to the people at the ward level. The Ministry of Finance has already released a budget of Rs 57.97 billion to the health ministry to set up the basic health facilities across the country as per the budget speech for fiscal 2020/21 on May 28. Then finance minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada had proposed spending Rs 90.69 billion, which is Rs 22 billion more than that of last fiscal, for the current fiscal to make further improvements in the health sector following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic that has already claimed the lives of more than 1,500 people. The main objectives of this year’s budget are to protect the lives of citizens from all kinds of diseases, including COVID-19. The key priorities of the government are to protect citizens from all kinds of health risks, providing universal access to quality healthcare services, expansion of health services, construction of and upgrading the health facilities along with increasing the number of doctors and health workers.

As per the guidelines set by the health ministry, the local and provincial governments laid foundation stones for five-bed, 15-bed and upto 50-bed hospitals as per their requirements and population size in the given areas. In Bara, a 50-bed communicable and epidemic disease control hospital and trauma centre was initiated from the federal government’s budget. As per the rule, a five-bed health facility must acquire a minimum nine ropanis of land in the hills/mountains and 14 katthas of land in the Tarai region. All the 396 health facilities are required to come into operation within the next two years. Some of the local levels have even announced that they would unveil a health insurance policy for the locals.

This is perhaps the first time that the government has launched a nationwide campaign to set up such a large number of health facilities. The government was under pressure to provide health services to the people following the surge in COVID-19 cases last March. The pandemic forced the government to take a drastic measure in the health sector, which had been neglected for long. However, setting up of the hospitals alone will not serve the purpose of providing health services to the people. They should be able to provide quality services to the people at affordable cost, and they should not act simply as referral centres.

The government must ensure that these facilities get adequate human resources along with the provision of state-of-the-art equipment. At present, most of the hospitals outside the Kathmandu Valley lack the required number of doctors, nurses and technicians and the minimum facilities. The main question here is how the three tiers of government will manage the new health facilities in case the federal government stops providing them with financial support and human resources in the future. It is, therefore, imperative that all the provincial and local governments set aside a good chunk of their annual budget for their sustainability.

Pay heed

Of late, the country has been witnessing quite a few pro-monarchy rallies in the major cities, including the capital, Kathmandu, demanding the reinstatement of the monarchy. On Monday, the rally was held at the Maitighar Mandala in the heart of the city, which was joined by hundreds of people, including youngsters and people of different professions.

Of course, a few rallies here and there are unlikely to bring back the monarchy, which was dumped in May 2008 by the first Constituent Assembly. Nepal is now constitutionally a Federal Democratic Republic, and only some memories of the monarchy remain among the people.

However, the pro-monarchy rallies portend to the increasing frustration among the people, especially the youths, against the slow pace of change in the country. The constant intra-party bickering in the ruling Nepal Communist Party has only added to people’s resentment. Similar discontent among the populace led to the decade-long Maoist insurgency that killed more than 17,000 people, with many more injured and displaced. Thus, it would be in the interest of the government and all the parties to work together to bring stability and prosperity in the country as pledged during the elections.