Health ministry direct to provide free treatment for infected who cannot afford it

Kathmandu: The Ministry of Health and Population has urged all hospitals to provide free treatment to those who cannot afford the treatment. The government had recently decided to provide free testing and treatment to the poor, helpless, disabled and frontline workers only if they show symptoms and others should be treated at their own expense.
After widespread criticism, the government defended itself, saying it would be free of charge if it could not afford the treatment. But on Sunday, the ministry’s Incident Command System (ICS) coordinator, Dr. Gunaraj Lohani said in a press release that some hospitals had demanded money for the admission of Covid-19 patients and deprived them of treatment due to non-payment.
Stating that the treatment of the poor, destitute, disabled, helpless and senior citizens will be provided free of cost by the government and self-declaration on behalf of the patients will be accepted, Lohani said that the hospitals will be responsible if they do the opposite.
Addressing all government, community, private, non-government hospitals and medical colleges, he said, “This release has been issued to provide free treatment to Covid-19 infected people who cannot afford the treatment.”