Patients visiting Taplejung District Hospital is in crisis after the contract with the health workers expired on May 13.
Chief of the hospital, Dr. Soning Lama, said that the hospital administration has stopped the maternity service after the agreement with Dr. Rajan Ghimire expired on May 13.
Dr. Lama said that the patients were referred to Panchthar District Hospital as there was no specialist doctor for the operation.
“As the labor pains get longer and the lives of both the baby and the mother are at risk, the risk increases when the patient has to be referred for surgery,” said Dr Lama.
Dr. Lama said that those who have come from remote areas to seek services at the district hospital have to be referred elsewhere as there is no doctor.
Chief District Officer Umesh Pandey, Minister for Economic Affairs of the province government Tanka Angwuhang, Province MP Bal Bahadur Samsohang, Hom Kumari Sawal and others were informed about the crisis of specialist doctors for the operation.
Chief District Officer Umesh Pandey said that he was trying to solve the problem knowing that the maternity service was closed due to lack of doctors.
Article 6 (1) of the Right to Safe Maternity and Reproductive Health Act states that government and community health institutions providing maternity services should provide skilled health workers or otherwise obstetricians or other trained health workers to provide maternity services.
The Constitution of Nepal 2072 BS has provided the right to health as a fundamental right under Article 35, sub-article-1 states that every citizen shall have the right to receive free basic health care from the state and no one shall be deprived of emergency services.
In the fiscal year 2076-77, 135 deliveries were performed in the district.
According to Hemraj Kathayat, statistic officer of the district health office, out of 1,437 deliveries in the district, 135 have been operated.