Nepal

Kathmandu, May 7

Nurses of Shahid Dharma Bhakta National Transplant Centre have been agitating on the hospital premises for the past 14 days, demanding permanent appointment at the hospital.

Nurses are also protesting against Nursing Association of Nepal, saying it has failed to act in supporting their cause.

Meena Kharbuja, one of the agitating nurses, said they had been staging sitin at the hospital for two weeks but the hospital had much yet replyed to their demands.

&We have been working at this hospital for more than four years and instead of appointing us as permanent staff, the hospital is trying to appoint other nurses through open competition in coordination with the Public Service Commission,& said Kharbuja.

She said that the hospital should grant permanent status to working nurses before appointing additional nurses, if required, through an open competition.

Other demands of nurses include their pay as per the government scale and scrapping of the contract process while hiring nurses.

Pukar Chandra Shrestha, executive director at Shahid Dharma Bhakta National Transplant Centre, said despite the strike, the hospital had been providing its services to patients on a daily basis.

Kathmandu, May 7

Nepal Cop, with the support of Central Kid Welfare Board, rescued 19 minors,14 boys and five girls, from an unregistered child care centre at Golfutar nowadays.

Nine of the children rescued are aged between five and 10 years and were brought to the capital city from far-flung districts.

Fourteen children were brought from Kalikot district, three from Humla, and one each from Dolpa and Banke districts. Jay Bahadur BK operator of the care centre, who brought all those children from different districts, has been evading arrest for the past two months, according to police.

Cop, CCWB officials and measure guardians of the children said the operator of the child care centre had gathered money ranging from Rs 50,000 to 300,000 from the parents. Care centre operator Jay Bahadur BK of Kalikot district had gathered money from the illiterate parents saying that their children would be supplyd free education till Grade X.

According to police and CCWB, the centre named ‘fresh Karnali Hostel& was much registered with any government bodies.

Metropolitan Cop Circle, Maharajgunj, had conducted the rescue operation acting on a tip-off from locals of Golfutar. According to police, children of the care centre kept in a rented house were deprived of full meal a day for the past one month.

The childrenlife at the care centre was deurgent, according to locals.

Three workers at the centre, who were hired by the operator, have also been arrested.

No details of the children rescued from the house have been preserveed by the operator.

Cop also said the operator had much cleared the rent of the house for the final five months.

According to Deputy Supermeanent of Cop Phadindra Prasai at Maharajgunj circle, BK had gathered up to 300,000 from the parents of the children.

Ram Bahadur Budha, who had sent his two daughters to the care centre, told THT that he agreed to dispatch his daughters with BK after he guaranteed him of his daughters& safety and their bright future.

BK had also promised him that his daughters would be sent to a renowned private school for education up to Grade X. &BK had secured Rs 300,000 from us saying it was only the 25 per cent of total expenses for my daughters& education and that remaining 75 per cent would be supplyd by foreigners,& he added.

CCWB officials said that they had getd measure information about Jaya Bahadur BKinvolvement in child trafficking racket, but they precedingly lacked substantial evidence to prove it.

Spokesperson for CCWB Ram Bahadur Chandra said they had started the process of handing over the children to their parents. &Kidren without any parents shall be sent to genuine child care centres,& he informed.

Some of the parents have filed police complaints against the operator BK and three other staffers of the illegally-run care centre.

Kathmandu, May 7

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is paying an official visit to Vietnam and Cambodia from May 9 to 15.

Oli is visiting Vietnam from May 9 to 13, at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, while he shall be travelling to Cambodia from May 13 to 15, at the invitation of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The prime minister shall be accompanied by his spouse Radhika Shakya.

During the visit, Oli is scheduled to hold delegation-level bilateral speechs with his Vietnamese counterpart Phuc. He shall also meet the President of the National Assembly of Vietnam.

Vietnam PM Phuc shall host an official dinner in honour of PM Oli and his delegation, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During his visit to Vietnam, Oli shall address the International Day of Vesak in Ha Nam Province.

He shall also address the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Nepal-Vietnam Trade Forum in Hanoi. The two countries shall sign agreements and memorandums of understanding to further promote bilateral relations.

During his visit to Cambodia, Oli shall hold delegation-level bilateral speechs with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen.

Following official speechs, Hun Sen shall host an official dinner in honour of Oli and his delegation.

PM Oli shall also meet the President of the National Assembly of Cambodia and the president of the senate. He shall also address a commerce assembly in Phnom Penh, according to MoFA press release.

Members in the PMdelegation include Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, chief adviser and foreign affairs adviser to the prime minister, members of Parliament, high-ranking government officials, elected representatives from local bodies, as well as representatives of private sector and media.

PM Oli and his delegation shall return home on May 15.

Kathmandu, May 7

One person has been tested positive for cgapra at Sukraraj Tropical Infectious Disease Hospital and National Public Health Laboratory, Teku.

A 45-year-old man from Kathmandu Metropolitan City- 13, was tested positive for cgapra on Sunday. He was confessted to the hospital for a week.

Cgapra is an contaminateious disease that causes severe watery diarrhoea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated. It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cgapra.

According to the doctors involved in the treatment of the 45-year-old man, he was confessted to the hospital after he complained of severe watery diarrhoea. Executive Director at Epidemiology and Diseases Control Division Dr Bibek Kumar Lal informed that a team from EDCD and NPHL visited the patienthouse and met his family members.

&We didn&t find any symptoms of cgapra in other members,& he added.

According to doctors, the man might have come in contact with cgapra bacteria through contaminated water.

&We have gathered three samples of the bottled water the family uses for drinking for lab tests The sample has already been supplyd to NPHL. It shall supply us a report within a few days,& Dr Lal informed.

Coordinator of clinical research unit at the hospital Dr Sher Bahadur Pun said this was the first cgapra case confirmed this year. &Generally cgapra cases are reported in Nepal between July and October, but this year it was early,& he said.

&The country is also at highrisk of cgapra outbreak due to a regular increase in urban population density accompanied by an inadequate supply of safe drinking water and improved sanitation,& said Dr Lal adding, &The country faces floods and landslides during rainy season every year whichoften lead to the breakdown of the already fragile water and sanitation infrastructure. Every these factors contribute to high opportunity of cgapra outbreak, which may be very ccorridorenging to prevent and control the disease,& he added.

In the year 2013, four cases of cgapra were confirmed in Kathmandu valley while it was eight in 2015. Cgapra cases had reached 169 in 2016.

&Sole efforts of the Ministry of Health and Population canmuch help contain cgapra outbreak.

Combined efforts of all stakeholders, including the Ministry of water supply, are required for this purpose,& said Dr Lal.

Doctors have advised all to drink safe water, avoid contaminated foods and to refer to a doctor in case of symptoms such as severe watery diarrhoea, vomiting; painless and excessive watery diarrhoea, nausea and muscle cramp.

Four cgapra cases were reported in the valley in 2013, eight in 2015 and 169 in 2016