Teenage girl dead due to no health workers in Tehrathum

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT

Tehrathum, Aug. 3: Despite a five-bed health center in the locality, a woman named Kalpana Khatri, a resident of Sakranti Village development Committee (VDC) of the district, died due to no health worker at the village health centre.

According to her family, she died on the way to the hospital in Phidim as she had difficulty in giving birth to a child. Kalpana, 20, was married to Tom Prasad three years ago.

Lying about 12 miles east of the district headquarters, the government established the health centre in the VDC 10 years ago. Since no health worker stay at the centre, many people have died because of unavailablity of health services in time.

"If there was even a single health worker, Kalpana would not died," says Hari Dhungel, a local resident. The Assistant Health Worker and nurse of the health centre were on leave.

As per the government’s policy to establish a health centre in each VDC, all the VDCs of the district have health centers.

There is also provision for a medical superintendent at the health centre of Sakranti VDC, but a peon has been doing all the works there.

There are four posts for medical superintendent-- one each in Sakranti and Basantpur health centres and two in the district hospital. But there is no medical superintendent in the whole district at present.

To fill one vacant post of medical superintendent in the district hospital, an Ayurvedic Dr. Yadu Chandra Ghimire was sent to the district hospital. But Ghimire has been staying in Kathmandu.

"We have requested the Department of Health Services and the Ministry of Health to provide us with doctors and health workers, as no doctor or health worker stays here," says Tulasi Dhakal, officiating chief at the district health office.

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