Right to access to affordable health care is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution promulgated in 2015. However, the health care system in Nepal is so poor that the people cannot avail even basic health care in the rural parts of the country. After the country adopted the federal system, all the primary health centres have been handed over to the local levels to manage them. Still, the situation has not improved due to lack of adequate skilled human resources and equipment. The government has also introduced a pilot project under the health insurance policy in over a dozen districts.
But they have also not been very effective as, in most of the serious and chronic cases, the patients, who have bought the health insurance policy in the public hospitals, are referred to Kathmandu, which incurs a lot of time and money to avail the health service. The slogan of "Universal health coverage, health security and health for all" is still a far cry in the rural areas.
Such kinds of problems faced by the general people can be greatly addressed provided the government launches the nation-wide health insurance policy along with the development of an efficient health care system in all the provinces which run provincial hospitals, previously known as Zonal and Regional hospitals operating under the central government.
South Asia lags behind when it comes to providing affordable and universal health care to its people.
This was more pronounced when the COV- ID-19 pandemic hit hard the region, where more than half a million people died from the disease due to lack of a resilient health care system. In order to address this problem, the 75th session of the Regional Committee for WHO South-East Asia concluded in Paro, Bhutan on Saturday, calling for a resilient health system with priority to health issues, including non-communicable diseases, TB, cervical cancer, oral health, eye care, mental health and maternal, new born and child mortality in the region. The session, which met in person for the first time in three years, has committed to strengthening emergency preparedness and building a health system that is also resilient to climate change.
The regional committee has stressed the need to revitalise regional knowledge and experience, sharing the mechanism aligned with the national regional and global goals for strengthening comprehensive people-centred primary health services and health systems to respond to public health priorities. As stated by the regional meeting, so many communicable and non-communicable diseases can be cured or prevented from occurring provided the three tiers of government in Nepal work in tandem to strengthen the primary health care system already set up by the government, particularly following the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. All the member countries need to adopt the regional strategy roadmap to boost emergency preparedness, readiness and response through capacity building and enhanced governance.
In 2020, the then government had announced the launch of 396 basic hospitals in 396 local levels in a bid to provide quality health services to the people during the height of the pandemic. These are the basic foundations for primary health services, and successive governments should strengthen them with added facilities and skilled human resources.
Drink-driving
That 31 school bus drivers have been booked for drink-driving since the Traffic Police launched a campaign targeting them on August 15 is a matter of great concern. Surprisingly, the drivers were ferrying children of reputed schools in the Kathmandu Valley when the Traffic Police apprehended them. That they had been drinking from early morning, long before the lessons began at 9 am, means some of them could be alcoholics, according to the traffic cops. Until recently, the bus drivers were having a field day, as the police didn't assume school bus drivers would be drink-driving, that too from early morning.
The drivers must not be let off the hook easily as drink-driving not only puts the lives of children at risk but also those of pedestrians. While the Traffic Police is largely responsible for maintaining transport safety on the roads, the school administration is equally responsible for seeing that the drivers are sober while driving, especially now that it has come to light that quite a few drivers are doing so under the influence of alcohol. Since it involves the safety of the children, the parents too have an obligation to see that the driver is in a state to deliver the children to their destination safely.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 12, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
