The residents of western Ramechhap have been deprived of health services due to lack of doctors in the local health facilities.

Kaman Singh Moktan, chairman of Doramba Rural Municipality, said that the health facilities in western part of the district as well as Gelu in Manthali Municipality are mostly run with the help of health assistants, auxiliary health workers and auxiliary nurse midwives. “There are no doctors here. If anybody falls seriously ill, the chances of receiving immediate medical attention are slim,” said Moktan.

Consequently, patients from this rural municipality have to visit Kathmandu for treatment and medical tests. “Health posts cannot provide extended health facilities in the remote areas,” Moktan added.

Villagers of remote Gaushwara, Lakhanpur, Tokarpur, Doramba and Daduwa among other areas have to reach Dhulikhel to receive treatment. Though a primary health centre has been established in Gelu, people living in western part of the district said that it is situated too far from their rural municipality. Gelu is near Manthali, the district headquarters of Ramechhap.

Last year, the central government had brought up a programme to upgrade Doramba Health Post into a hospital, but the budget has been returned without implementing the plan.

Khadga Bahadur Shrestha, ward chairman of Doramba, said that they have already managed a land plot to build a hospital. “We will soon build a hospital in Doramba which will benefit not just Doramba locals but also make medical treatment accessible for those in the other municipalities,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, Khandadevi Rural Municipality has planned to appoint a doctor on contract to provide health services to the patients. Prem Bahadur Tamang, chairman of the rural municipality, said “We will demand budget from the central government to establish a hospital in the rural municipality.” 

***

What do you think?

Dear reader, we’d like to hear from you. We regularly publish letters to the editor on contemporary issues or direct responses to something the Post has recently published. Please send your letters to [email protected] with "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line. Please include your name, location, and a contact address so one of our editors can reach out to you.