Kathmandu [Nepal], July 13 – Prime Minister Balendra Shah has directed all the authorities to immediately prepare a plan to establish well-equipped burn treatment centres in all seven provinces. The aim is to strengthen Nepal’s capacity to treat patients with severe burn injuries.
The directive came during a meeting with vice-chancellors of the country’s major health science institutions at the office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Monday.
Shah also instructed officials to prepare plans to upgrade burn wards in major government hospitals and called for close coordination among the federal government, provincial government and health institutions to ensure timely quality treatment for critically injured burn patients.
Ensuring quality, effectiveness and citizen-friendly healthcare as a government priority the prime minister urged hospitals to improve cleanliness, service delivery, digital technology adoption and the implementation of good governance.
He further directed health institutions to effectively enforce the existing provision requiring private hospitals to provide at least 10 percent of their OPD services at subsidized rates for low-income and vulnerable patients.
During the meeting vice-chancellors proposed measures to improve the quality of medical education, strengthen healthcare delivery, expand specialized medical services, address shortages of skilled health professionals, promote research and upgrade infrastructure.
They also briefed the prime minister on the digital transformation of healthcare services, implementation of hospital information management systems and challenges to institutional development caused by land encroachment affecting some health institutions.
The meeting was attended by the vice-chancellors of the Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Rapti Academy of Health Sciences, Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences and the National Academy of Medical Sciences.
