Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre said it will continue free treatment for all underprivileged children under 15 years of age suffering from cardiac ailments, with the hospital board committing to ensuring treatment for all needy patients.

According to the hospital administration, a board meeting headed by Health Minister Pradip Paudel on Wednesday decided to form a committee to explore resources to ensure free cardiac treatment for children from poor families.

“We have been providing free treatment for children under 15 years of age from the budget the government has been allocating to the hospital,” said Dr Ravi Malla, director at the hospital. “But the number of patients requiring valve replacement surgeries has been rising every year. The board meeting has decided to use the budget provided to the hospital, the hospital’s resources, and find donors to sustain the programme.”

Earlier, the hospital administration said it had run out of the government-provided budget for free cardiac care for children under 15 years of age, as the hospital spent the budget within the first half of the ongoing fiscal year.

The hospital, which serves as the national referral centre for cardiac care, had also started charging parents of children with serious heart conditions after government officials informed them that no additional funding would be available to continue free treatment for children.

The government provides Rs120 million a year to the hospital for free cardiac surgeries for 500 children (Rs250,000 per patient) under 15 years of age. However, the number of children seeking free treatment far exceeds 1,000. In 2023, the hospital provided free surgeries to 905 children.

Malla said that the government released Rs240 million of a total of Rs480 million in dues to social service programmes, and the hospital has been using the budget to continue free care for seriously ill children.

Hospital officials say that despite the financial crunch, the hospital has assured the public that no child has been denied treatment due to their inability to pay. For the parents of children unable to afford the services, the hospital has been covering the costs through its charity fund, according to them.

“We ask parents who can pay for service to contribute, as the demand for free treatment is high and resources are limited,” said Sudip Chandra Dahal, an administrative staff at the hospital. “But poor and needy children will still receive treatment if those who can afford it pay for their own costs.”

Addressing the board meeting, Minister Poudel directed the hospital administration not to deny treatment to anyone who cannot afford to pay.

Officials at the hospital say that they will request local governments to contribute to the free treatment of ailing cardiac patients under 15 years of age.

Doctors say that in some complex cases, treatment costs can reach up to Rs1 million per child.

The free cardiac care scheme for children was introduced by the then health minister Gagan Kumar Thapa during his tenure in 2016-2017.

At the time of the programme’s launch, Rs120 million was enough to cover the cost. During the Covid pandemic, the hospital performed fewer surgeries, which allowed them to save funds and extend the scheme. But those savings have now been depleted. It is estimated that eight to 10 children out of every 1,000 in Nepal suffer from serious heart ailments.

Along with free treatment of children under 15 years of age, the government also provides free treatment for those suffering from rheumatic heart disease, for valvuloplasty (a procedure to open narrowed heart valves), free treatment for those above 75 years of age, and free service worth Rs100,000 for impoverished patients.