Apropos of the news story “MoH proposes free treatment for people injured in road accidents” ( THT, December 17, Page 3), if the cabinet stamps its seal of approval there will be quantum jump in the accidents in this federal democratic republic. Did MoH think about this? What is the idea behind MoH’s generosity? Was it thinking of harvesting organs from the road fatalities? One thing is for sure. This proposal is clearly at the behest of some dark insidious forces in the country who want the license to kill and to pass all the cost of their criminal actions to MoH. Hence, the cost of accidents must be fully borne by the perpetrators and their insurance policies.

There is no need for MoH to moot this idea to take the financial burden of the traffic offenders and killers. Instead, MoH might like to offer free hospitalization and medicines to the poor across the board and senior citizens above 70 years irrespective of their economic status. It is, however, a good idea to start mobile hospitals in ambulances to provide critical care to the accident victims free of charge if it so wishes. MoH might also moot ambulance home service to provide care for the needy and helpless patients, again free of cost. MoH or anybody for that matter should stop blaming the road conditions for accidents. All of us use these roads without so much as harming a rat scurrying across the road. A Nepali adage urges people to swallow bones according to their throat. As long as people keep this

in mind while driving on Nepal’s dilapidated roads, the accidents can be heavily minimized.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

Health policy

This is in reference to the editorial “Erring hospital” (THT, December 15, Page 8). It is very saddening and heart-wrenching that the private hospitals in Nepal are charging more money than what has been set by

government rules. It is

mandatory that they need to provide free health services to the needy and poor ones. The poor people do not get quality services in the government hospitals which results in their mounting frustration. The rich people of a society can afford to go to the highly expensive medical centres. One thing I really can’t understand is where we are failing.

Shiva Neupane, Melbourne

Drunk driving

It has been reported that in Norway, fines for drunk driving are calculated according to the defendant’s income. This system of fining on the basis of one’s income is right and just and one of the reasons why Norwegian citizens are happy and Norway is the happiest country in the world in terms of World Happiness Report 2017. Also, Norway has given top priority to the welfare of its citizens. That keeps it at the top of the list of Human Development Index for a long time. It shows that to make people happy; laws and development should entirely be human centric in the best way possible.

Sujit De, Kolkata