PAHILOPOST
After much delay, the
Nepal-India Friendship Trauma Centre is finally set to start operations this week. Built with Indian assistance, the hospital was handed over by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Tuesday. Although the centre has a capacity for 200 beds, it will begin operations with only 50 beds, and the board hasn’t yet decided how much to charge for operations.
“The government should allocate budget as well as manpower if we are to provide free services,” said acting director of the centre, Ashok Ratna Bajracharya. The average cost for a patient is Rs 470 per bed per day with additional cost of Rs 3,500 for additional services.
The trauma centre’s foundation stone was laid as far back as 1997 by Prime Minister I K Gujral. Construction started in 2006, and although it was completed three years later the handover was delayed. In 2012, the Ministry of Health and Population took over the responsibility of the centre from National Academy of Sciences after which, the Outpatient Department (OPD) was launched every Monday and Thursday.
The centre aims at providing comprehensive trauma care including neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery and cardiovascular to injured patients. Every day three people die while 12 are injured in road accidents in Nepal. Trauma due to road accidents is the fourth highest cause of death in Nepal and will be the third highest by 2020.
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