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Kathmandu Thursday October 04, 2001 Ashwin 18, 2058.
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Poor treatment
It surprised many when Rupa Thapa (Shrestha) of
Tanahu gave birth to quadruplets the other day. This was a rare case of a woman giving
birth to so many at one time in a Nepalese hospital. More than that the births have showed
up the way the regional hospital in Pokhara serves the public. Perhaps, the reality of how
this hospital runs and how it takes years to have an incubator repaired would not have
come to public notice, had Rupa not given birth to three of her quadruplets there. The
government run hospitals — be they regional or national – do not have minimum
equipment to treat patients, leave aside the primary health care centres and district
hospitals which bear witness to how poor our health sector is. This is the main reason why
infant and maternal mortality rates are so high in Nepal compared to other countries in
the subcontinent. This apart, hundreds of people die every year of preventable disease as
a result of poor treatment.
Rupa had already given birth to a son at her
house before she was admitted to Pokhara’s regional hospital. She was weak, pale and
in an unconscious state when brought to this regional hospital. Even though she was in a
serious condition, the doctors refused to perform the required surgical operation until
Rupa’s family managed to get hold of a pint of blood, which took them more than four
hours. Doctors should not have taken so long to perform an operation when a patient was in
a critical condition. Yet the hospital does not have any neonatal intensive care unit for
underweight children. The worn out incubator had been out of order for the last ten years.
The doctors who should have taken care of the newly born quadruplets then refused to allow
them to be taken away from the hospital until 7 pm that day.
The quadruplets are now at a private hospital,
while the mother remains hospitalized at Pokhara’s regional hospital. The newly born
babies have been in intensive care since they were born underweight. The way the doctors
of Pokhara’s regional hospital treated Rupa shows that successive governments have
never taken the health sector seriously. If the birth of quadruplets can strain the
resources of a regional hospital, one well imagine what the situation will be when a real
public health emergency overtakes it. The poor health sector of this country has always
been a matter of serious concern. The state-run hospitals neither have medical personnel
nor do these hospitals have adequate equipment to treat the patients. As a result,
hundreds of people have had to lose their lives every year. However, the government cannot
ignore the country’s health sector, nor can it allow the poor to die of preventable
diseases. It has no option but to look after the health of the poor.
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