Quality Health Service
PRIME Minister Girija Prasad Koirala
inaugurating the second national Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) conference of the Society of
Otolaryngologists of Nepal in Biratnagar the other day called upon all doctors and medical
workers to go to villages and serve the needy people. Prime Minister Koirala said that as
His Majesty’s Government is actively engaged in liberating the people from the ugly
clutches of poverty by carrying out various activities meant for poverty alleviation in
the country, social sectors like education and health have been accorded higher priority.
It is a fact that the development of the nation depends on the health of the people.
Moreover, health status is one of the indicators of the country’s overall
development. It has been well accepted that people are the main agent of change and
development in the country and unless people are healthy enough they cannot contribute to
the development of the nation in a sustainable way. Nepal is among a few countries in the
world, with poorest public health status. It is, thus, very important to improve the
health status of the country. In view of this, the government has accepted health care
facility as one of the fundamental human rights of the people. Accordingly, His
Majesty’s Government has announced its determination and commitment to provide basic
health care facilities to all people in the country within a couple of years under its
Health For All programme. Several programmes have been launched to provide health care
facilities to the people and raise the public health status of the country. Owing to these
efforts, there have been some significant achievements in the public health sector
compared to few decades ago. However, situation is still far from satisfactory. Health
facilities are still not available in many rural and remote areas despite existence of
hospitals and health posts. It is not because of the absence of infrastructure, budget and
commitment of the government but because of the tendency of doctors and other health
workers not to go to rural areas where there is greater need of quality health services.
As a result, people are deprived of health services despite government’s commitment
to provide health care facilities to all. Nepal is a country where more than 90 per cent
of the people live in the rural areas. Thus, more attention needs to be given to ensure
better and quality health services in the rural areas so that majority of the people, who
can not afford to go to urban areas for treatment, would be able to enjoy quality health
care facilities in their own areas.
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