Due to the risk of COVID-19 infection, the health services being provided in the wards of Bhanu Municipality of Tanahu have been affected and the beneficiaries have been facing problems.
Test of Diabetes and blood pressure, which used to be conducted in every three months in the municipality, have been stopped. Due to which patients with diabetes and high blood pressure have problems taking regular medication.
Rukmani Khanal of Bhanu Municipality-6 said that the medicine could not be continued for the patients suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure as the ward level tests were stopped.
She added that especially the senior citizens are facing problems as they are not able to take regular tests and medications.
“Youngsters can go to clinics and get themselves tested,” she said, “but senior citizens and the disabled have a lot of problems because they can’t go.”
She said that the health workers would be afraid to come near to test them due to the risk of COVID-19.
Similarly, regular vaccination services for children have been disrupted for the past three months, said Sobha Pant of Bhanu Municipality-10.
She said that the regular vaccination service for children was also stopped due to non-availability of health workers.
Chief of the Health Branch of Bhanu Municipality, Aishwarya Chandra Bhattarai, said that they could not go to the ward to check for diabetes and blood pressure due to lack of health workers.
He said that everyone was requested to come to the health post as they could not go to the villages due to the terror of COVID-19.
Bhattarai informed that more than 500 senior citizens and the disabled have been tested in all the wards of the municipality.