National
Health facility in Dhanusha at the mercy of office assistant
Pheku Mahato, an office assistant at the dispensary, has been operating the OPD service at the dispensary as the institute has been without health workers for the past month.Santosh Singh
Tekan Das of Yadukuha in Sahid Municipality rushed his wife Samundri Devi, aged 70, to a local Ayurveda dispensary, a government health facility, on Friday after she complained of sudden abdomen pain. Pheku Mahato, an office assistant at the dispensary, examined her, prescribed medicines and asked the victim’s relative to buy medicines from a pharmacy. But when her condition did not improve even after four hours, Tekan took her to a private hospital.
Pheku has been operating the OPD service at the dispensary as the institute has been without health workers for the past month.
Ramekbal Mandal, ward chairman of Sahid Municipality-6, said he came to learn about the lack of health workers when he visited the facility on Friday to have his blood pressure checked.
The office assistant has been running the dispensary since Kabiraj Ramchhabila Yadav was deputed at Social Development Ministry in Province 2 last month. Sources said that Ramchhabila, who is the central vice-chairman of Madhesi Health Workers Forum, has been busy in political activities in the constituency of federal State Minister of Health and Population Surendra Yadav by receiving salary from the municipality.
Mayor of Sahid Municipality Udaya Yadav admitted that treatment at the Ayurveda institution had been affected ever since Ramchhabila had remained away from the facility.
“We wrote to the authority concerned to return him where he has been posted but to no avail,” he added.
When asked about irregularities at the Ayurveda institute, Mayor Yadav conceded that he did not know about that. The government facility neither has health workers nor medicines now.
Talking to the Post, Ramchhabila said that the office assistants “do not have authority to examine patients and prescribe medicines. I am preparing to return Ayurveda institute,” he added.