19 Nov, Kathmandu:

Minister for Health Gagan Kumar Thapa has said that the government should stop keeping nurse as volunteer.

At the 19th annual general meeting of the ‘Association of Private Health Institution Nepal (APHIN) — an umbrella organisation of private hospitals –here on Friday, Minister Thapa urged the hospitals to end labour exploitation by keeping nurses and other paramedics as volunteer.

He said, “Let’s end wrong practice of keeping nurses as volunteer. It will be monitored from now onward in course of monitoring of hospitals.”

The Health Minister also warned of not renewing the license of those hospitals if found keeping nurses as volunteer during monitoring.

Expressing readiness to resolve problems of private hospitals, Minister Thapa said the government was mulling to introduce a Public Health Act for the same.

He said, “The government should strictly implement the provision of 10 per cent free treatment of total service to poor people by private hospitals.”

APHIN Chairman Basanta Kumar Chaudhary expressed the commitment that APHIN was ready to collaborate with the government to maintain hospital transparency.

The two-day AGM will elect a new working committee, it is learnt.

Meanwhile, senior film-maker Uddav Poudel has been unanimously elected as Chairman of Om Hospital and Research Centre.

The general convention of the Hospital concluded on Thursday elected Poudel as the chairman. RSS