NEFPORT ISSUE 44 – MARCH 2021
HEALTH HEALTH The Government of Nepal has initiated the drive to acquire vaccines from India in addition to sending requests for vaccine procurement to other countries. The procurement process comes at a time when a new variant of the COVID-19 vaccine has been found in the United Kingdom which prompted the government to ban entry for passengers from the country. The sector has also been entangled by various challenging issues. One such instance is healthcare workers demanding risk allowance in government run hospitals in the country in addition to an alarming level of air pollution in the capital city of Kathmandu. Government initiates vaccine procurement: The Nepal government has written to the Indian government requesting for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines on December 2020. The government aims to inoculate around 20% of the Nepali population through these vaccines.46 The government has requested the Indian counterparts to procure adequate vaccines for Nepal while India procures the jabs for their own population. Currently, there are five vaccines against corona virus which are at various stages of human trials in India - Oxford AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech are in advanced phase 3 trials. Besides India, the Nepal government has also sent diplomatic notes to China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States requesting for supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine. At the present stage, 15 different vaccines from various countries and companies from all over the world are now in the third phase trial. It has been reported that in Nepal, children under 15 years will not be vaccinated as the vaccines produced so far have not been tested on those belonging to the age group. Of the remaining population, 20%
will be vaccinated through the COVAX program. The COVAX program has the world's largest and most diverse portfolio of potential COVID-19 vaccines. WHO has asked the Government of Nepal to prepare for vaccine rollout under COVAX in the third trimester of 2021. Each dose of vaccine under the COVAX scheme is estimated to cost NPR 1,177(USD 9.9). The Government of Nepal has also expressed interest in procuring one million doses of the Covidsheild vaccine and 25 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine from India and Russia respectively. 47 48 Health workers express their discontent: Agitating doctors and medical officers started a protest on January 18, 2021 demanding COVID risk allowance at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan. The Medical Officers are seeking a salary on par with the eighth level (NPR 38,784, USD 329.4) and a COVID allowance while residential doctors are demanding a risk allowance. The agitated workers had also warned of boycotting their duty at the emergency ward. The health workers unsatisfied with their salary
complained that the payment was far less than what the government had fixed. Medical doctors receive salary from NPR 55,000 to 60,000 (USD 467.17- 509.64) per month in other public hospitals around the country while the salary in BPKHS is only NPR 34,500( USD 293.04) per month. Although the complaint was lodged time and again, their plea to resolve the issue were neglected.49 A similar incident occurred in Kalaiya District Hospital too. The hospital's doctors, nurses, health workers and employees shut down all services except the emergency ward. The health workers staged a demonstration demanding COVID risk allowance. The employees at the Kalaiya District Hospital took the drastic step of boycotting their duty at the hospital after they did not receive the allowance for the past 10 months.50 Air quality in Kathmandu deteriorates to hazardous levels: The air quality in Kathmandu reached hazardous levels on January 4, 2021, crossing the 600 mark to briefly make it the most polluted city in the world. The air-quality monitoring station
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