Action will be taken against guilty in child's death: Health Minister Basnet

Kathmandu: Minister for Health and Population Mohan Bahadur Basnet has made it clear that action would be taken against the guilty if anyone is found knowingly committing a mistake in the death of a girl child at Kanti Children's Hospital.

Rejisha Gopali, a five-year-old girl, had allegedly died due to lack of treatment at the hospital's emergency ward last week. She was suffering from persistent vomiting and fever when she was brought to the emergency ward for treatment.

Instead of sending her to the doctor, the hospital staff told her mother and grandfather to get a ticket and wait for their turn, it said. Minister Basnet said this while talking to the journalists at Tribhuvan International Airport today, upon arrival home from Cairo, the capital of Egypt, after attending the International Conference on Population, Health and Development there.

He asserted that the guilty in the death of the girl due to lack of timely treatment would face action.

'Although I was out of the country at the time of the incident, I have watched this incident closely. I had telephoned the Secretary from Egypt itself directing for constitution of an investigation committee. Action will be taken if any mistake is found to have been committed knowingly,' the Health Minister Basnet said.

He said extensive discussions were held at the conference in Cairo, Egypt on the adverse impact the population migration and unsystematic settlements are having on public health and on the ways of resolving these problems. According to him, holistic development could be achieved together with the development in the health and population sector by resolving the problems in this sector.

Health and Population Minister Basnet shared on the occasion that his Egyptian counterpart in the conference expressed the commitment to organize this program next year as well considering its significance. He added that he met with the health ministers of various countries, the representatives of the donor agencies, and political leaders attending the conference and held discussions with them on strategic topics.

Minister Basnet said that during the conference he, in his capacity as the government representative and as the health minister, also lobbied with the health ministers of related countries in favor of the public health expert of Nepal Dr. Shambhu Acharya who has registered his candidacy to the post of Regional Director of WHO for South East Asia Region.

The WHO South East Asia Region conference is being held next month. Minister Basnet had left for Cairo Egypt on September 4 to participate in the International Conference on Population and Development held there on September 5-8.

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