KATHMANDU, March 8: A few private hospitals that have been refusing to implement government´s ´Mother Protection Program´ have finally started providing free delivery services through their teaching facilities.
Some private hospitals and community and public hospitals, like Patan Hospital and Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), have refused to implement the program arguing that delivery is one of their main income sources.
Though these hospitals are still reluctant to provide free delivery services, Kathmandu Medical College (KMC), Nepal Medical College, Jorpati, a teaching hospital of Kist Medical College in Imadol, and a teaching hospital of Kathmandu University have started providing free delivery services.
"We were first to implement the program in Kathmandu, but these days some private medical colleges have also started to provide the services," the director of the Maternity Hospital in Thapathali, Dr Lata Bajracharya said. According to Dr Chanda Karki, the chief of the gynecology department at KMC, the hospital also provides encouragement allowances to post-natal women just like the public hospitals. The government gives Rs 1,000 in allowance to the post-natal women to encourage safe and attended delivery.
The government launched the ambitious ´Mother Protection Program´ through government hospitals across the country in 2009. The Ministry of Health and Population (MoPH) had also instructed the private hospitals and medical colleges to implement the program, who defied it in the beginning. Though the MoPH compensates the hospitals for the services, the amount is much less than what the private hospitals charge for a delivery.
Dr Karki complained that KMC is yet to get compensation from the government for the free delivery services provided in the past. The MoPH provides Rs 1,500 for normal delivery, Rs 3,000 for complicated delivery and Rs 7,000 for caesarian cases in compensation. Dr Karki said KMC has to pay more than three millions to pharmacies for the expenses incurred while providing free medical service since August 2010.
"We do not charge the patients who come here for delivery. They get the service free of cost if they opt for a general ward. They have to pay the cabin charge if they choose to use one," said Dr Karki.
"The patients get everything free, including medicines and diagnosis," health care manager of Kist Medical College, Manish Dawadi, said and revealed that the hospital provides free services to about 50 women every month. "The number of deliveries has increased after starting free services and we believe it will also eventually benefit our students," Dawadi said.
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