Number of doctors to double in hospitals

Laxmi Maharjan

KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) plans to double the number of doctors in government hospitals under the new health sector reform plan beginning July.

The National Health

Sector Programme Implementation Plan aims to

increase the number of

doctors in government hospitals from 1,250 at

present to between 2,500 to 3,000. Around 25 per cent of doctors in government hospitals have been on 'study leave' for the last 17 years.

Dr Laxmi Raj Pathak, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population said the plan aims to address the problem of insufficient medical officers.

He said the ministry

will also upgrade and manage infrastructure at health institutions.

As per the plan, sub-health posts will be upgraded to health posts, where auxiliary nurse, Midwife and health assistants will be posted.

Primary health care

centres will also be upgraded to rural community hospitals with 10 to 15 beds and district hospitals will be upgraded to 50-bed hospitals with specialised doctors.

"The state should allocate at least ten per cent of its total budget to health service" demanded the spokesperson. The government has allocated around seven per cent of its total budget to the health sector this year.

Dr Kedar Narsingh KC, president of Nepal Medical Association, said around 70 per cent of doctors are stationed in city areas. The doctor-patient ratio in Kathmandu is 1:800, while the ratio in the hills and remote areas is 1:3,000, said KC. NMA has also been raising the issue of doctors' posting time and again, he said.

The country's population was around 17.5 million in 1991 and the number of doctors was then the same as it is now. Now the population has reached 27.5 million.

NMA has drawn the

government's attention to the need to curb brain-drain as around 4,000 Nepali doctors have settled abroad. Of the 3,000 NMA-affiliated doctors, only around 940 serve in government hospitals.
Story's Average Rating
Be the first one to rate this story.