Patients in Kharpunath Rural Municipality face significant difficulties due to the absence of health workers at the Takla Community Health Unit, located in Takla, Kharpunath Rural Municipality-5. There has been no health worker in the facility since January 2025 resulting in its closure and depriving locals of essential healthcare services.
Although only one Health Assistant (HA), Jayendra Shahi, is assigned to the unit, his prolonged absence has created serious obstacles for patients, according to Kali Bahadur Bohara, a local. Bohara further explained that the health unit, established to serve 74 households across Takla, Bamta, and Chaud, remains understaffed, leaving residents without access to medical treatment. Consequently, patients must now travel on foot for 45 minutes to the Kumlik Health Unit in Simkot Rural Municipality-1 or endure a three-hour trek to Thehe Health Post in Ward No. 2 to get medicine and treatment.
Residents have repeatedly informed the rural municipality about the issue, but the problem remains unresolved. People are compelled to walk three hours on foot to get basic medicine such as paracetamol. With no staff present at the health post for the past five months, locals suffering from headaches struggle without treatment, while those seriously ill are forced to undertake a five-hour walk to receive care. Karnabahadur Rawal, Chairperson of Kharpunath Rural Municipality, stated that the locals have not informed the municipality about the closure of the health facility so far. He emphasized that the health institution should not be closed without notice, and if it had been reported to the municipality’s health division, alternative arrangements could have been made.