Treat seriously

EDITORIAL

Incidents of hospitals being closed after the attacks on doctors and other medical personnel by the relatives of the dead patients is now common. Hospitals in Chitwan were closed for sometime after doctors and a staff nurse were beaten up and manhandled. These acts of violence can under no circumstances be condoned and should be criticized by

all in strong words. After such incidents the doctors often take the drastic step of refusing to work and close the hospitals. Patients can consider themselves lucky if the emergency ward remains open. But as often happens, even this ward is closed and the patients needing immediate medical attention are left in a quandary and have nowhere else to turn to. Through no fault of theirs the common people are made to suffer. What is tragic is that the closing of hospitals, in one part of the country or other, because of attacks and vandalism have become rather commonplace incidents.

The doctors for their part say they are insecure and they say that the conditions are such that it is difficult if not impossible to serve. The doctors should know the great harm they are doing by closing the hospital. But going by their version things are so bad that they should be provided with security. During negotiations between the aggrieved parties and the government, security is ensured. In fact, in the words of the government they are guaranteed. But there seems to be security lapses as a result of which the doctors continue to be beaten up. Now the government has guaranteed security to all the doctors, and let us hope this works out. For it only in a secure environment that the process of treatment can take place.

In any case, no matter what happens the facilities of medical treatment must be available around the clock. This calls for the exercising of restraint from the part of all the stakeholders. No one, including the doctors and medical staff or hospitals, can hold to hostage the common people. They have their rights and this should be clearly understood. It is understandable that the near and dear ones of patients who die become emotional. We need to sympathize with them and in some cases the treatment procedures might actually be faulty. When this happens then necessary investigations should be carried out, and if the doctors or other medical personnel are to be blamed, then they should be punished according to the law of the land. Anyway, when there is negligence the aggrieved parties should file their complaints through the proper channel. Beating up the doctors and other medical personnel is not the right thing to do. In most cases, even if the doctors are at fault they usually do not do so deliberately. This should be understood by the party of the victims before they resort to violence and vandalism. Fortunately, now the hospitals in Chitwan have opened. But this episode has taught us another lesson. What happened in Chitwan where doctors were beaten up could again be repeated there or elsewhere. And this cycle could keep on going on and on. Now it is urgent to provide the doctors with the security that they have been promised. Meanwhile, let better senses prevail and let the hospital services remain uninterrupted.

Dubious distinction

Kathmandu metropolis has the dubious distinction of being one of the dirties cities in the world. Every day the city of one million produces about 350 metric tonnes of wastes. Despite waste collection and dumping being carried on since the seventies, and efforts to keep the city clean and healthy little headway has been made. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has now decided upon collecting a charge for waste collection from the estimated 100,000 houses in the metropolis. The levied amount would range from Rs. 185 per household to Rs. 60,000 depending on the amount of wastes they generate. So far so good, but we expect better and reliable services from the KMC which they have not been able to provide till now.

The residents are expected to separate the disposable and non-disposable wastes. These can be

recycled and used for various purposes earning revenue for the KMC and the government. It is hoped that the KMC is serious about managing the garbage this time around.