Addressing the third National Health Summit, Minister for Health and Population, Mohan Bahadur Basnet, unveiled Nepal’s ambitious plan to transform into a top-notch ‘medical hub’ for medical education. He emphasized the crucial need to offer comprehensive medical education within Nepal, preventing students from seeking nursing and paramedical studies abroad, a move that has already led to substantial capital outflow.
Minister Basnet stressed that equitable healthcare is a fundamental right and emphasized that no individual should be denied treatment due to financial constraints. He highlighted the constitutional guarantee of free treatment for citizens and outlined measures to ensure accessibility to healthcare for all, with a directive for government hospitals to allocate up to 10% of their total bed capacity for free treatment to those in need.
Furthermore, the government is actively working on establishing three medical colleges in each province to bolster medical education accessibility. Uttam Joshi, Health Minister of Bagmati Province, underscored the importance of streamlined health services for citizens, announcing initiatives such as free health insurance of Rs 100,000 for disadvantaged communities and the provision of free blood in all government hospitals in Kathmandu.
The ongoing Summit, which commenced on Sunday, aims to conclude today, serving as a platform to drive transformative healthcare policies and initiatives for Nepal’s populace and aspiring to position Nepal as a beacon in the global medical landscape.
