Health minister promises sufficient supplies of medicines to all provinces

Kathmandu, Aug 21 . Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Upendra Yadav, has promised sufficient supplies of medical human resources, drugs and medical equipment to all provinces. In his address to a programme on ‘inclusion of findings of hearth researches in health policies and plans’ organised by the Nepal Health Research Council here today, the health minister said the government was committed to ensuring people’s fundamental rights to basic healthcare services.

He took the time to call upon people concerned to focus all health-related research works on finding better ways for prevention of diseases, instead of cure. He pledged to incorporate findings of such research works in the government health polices and plans. On the occasion, health secretary Dr Pushpa Chaudhary said formulation of health plans based on research works had been started, directing the Council to take its programmes down to the grass-root level. World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Nepal acting country director Dr Anindya Sekhar Boss said health plans based on research would yield positive impact on public health.

As stated by Council executive chair Prof Dr Anjani Kumar Jha, programmes aim at searching for cancer patients in three districts of the Kathmandu Valley and in Rukum, Saptari and Mahottari are underway so to find out segregated data about cancer patients that includes their numbers and types of cancers they are suffering. Council vice chair Dr Bhojraj Adhikari highlighted the importance of findings of research works to formulate health polices and plans capable of addressing real health needs of rural and poor people.
The government provides a monetary assistance of Rs 100,000 each to cancer patients. Council’s ongoing research works cover the issue of sickle cell anaemia remaining as the life-threatening health problem among the Tharu community in western Tarai districts.