ARJUN OLI
Health facilities in the mid-western region of Nepal are reeling under chronic shortage of health workers, says a report.

In the region that includes the country´s most backward Karnali zone, over 60 per cent of posts of doctors, staff nurses and other health workers have been lying vacant for several years, according to the report, which was released by the Midwestern Regional Health Directorate at a function recently organized in Nepalgunj.

Health facilities suffer from the shortage of health workers especially in rural areas, where there are no private health facilities either. In many villages, people are forced to walk miles to reach health facilities only to return empty-handed. 

According to the report, as many as 92 posts of doctors and 166 posts of staff nurses have been lying vacant in 15 districts. In addition, around 425 posts of other health workers have been lying empty across the region. Similarly, 24 out of the total 80 posts of lab technicians are yet to be fulfilled. Health authorities say they are facing difficulties to provide better healthcare to people due to the perennial problem of manpower crunch. They also stress the need for ending the shortage of manpower in order to provide better and effective healthcare to the people living in remote parts of the country. 

Dr Pravin Mishra, secretary of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), who attended the program where the report was unveiled, says the government is mulling over revising its health policy to end the manpower crisis in health facilities.

"In order to end the perennial manpower shortage and provide better health services, we are planning to engage private medical colleges," said Dr Mishra. "For this to happen, we need to amend our Nepal Health Services Act-1997, which we are mulling over."

Published on: 8 October 2013 | Republica