Nepal

Kathmandu, September 13

The government has appointed senior orthopaedic consultant Shree Krishna Giri as the vice-chairman of Medical Education Commission.

The council of ministers& meeting held yesterday had decided to appoint Giri to the post. From among nine applicants, Giri was selected for the post. &I have yet to receive the appointment letter,& said Giri.

A three-member task force tasked with recommending a candidate for the post had suggested Giri, Surendra Sherchan and Sambhu Kumar Pahari from among the nine applicants. The task force was formed under the leadership of Chairman of the Public Service Commission Umesh Mainali.

Earlier on June 24, the committee had published a public notice calling for applications for the post. However, only six persons had applied. The government had sought fresh applications for the post of MEC vice-chair later, by cancelling all applications received earlier, saying the applications received were incomplete. The applicants failed to submit required testimonials and documents along with applications, which prompted the committee to issue re-application notice for the post of vice-chair, in July.

The National Medical Education Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives on January 25, despite criticism from the opposition Nepali Congress party and Dr Govinda KC, has a provision to form the Medical Education Commission. Establishment of the Medical Education Commission was one of the key demands of Dr KC, for which he staged 16 fast-unto-death strikes since July 2012.

The commission is envisioned as an all powerful body to grant or revoke affiliation of medical colleges across the country and regulate medical education sector.

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Kathmandu, September 13

Health experts have said the strategy of search and destroy dengue-causing mosquitoes, their eggs and larvae should be implemented at the earliest, to contain dengue outbreak across the country.

Health experts said so as dengue had spread across the country at an alarming rate. According to data provided by Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku, from among the 4,577 patients who visited the hospital from September 1 to September 12, as many as 2,321 had tested positive for dengue.

&Many of the patients visiting the hospital are from Kathmandu,& said Anup Bastola, spokesperson and consultant tropical medicine physician at STIDH.

It is necessary to destroy mosquito breeding areas to contain dengue outbreak. Dengue can be prevented if we keep our environment clean. Any places where water gets accumulated should be filled, he added. Keeping in view the high number of patients at the hospital, it has decided to run the out-patient department even on Saturday. The OPD service will be provided right from the morning.

According to Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, 5,095 people from across the country have tested positive for dengue, till Tuesday. &Until we prevent mosquito breeding, it is difficult to control dengue spread,& said Ghanashyam Pokharel, senior public health administrator at EDCD. &There should be sound co-operation and co-ordination between the three tiers of government to control dengue spread.&

This year dengue cases have been detected in 56 of 77 districts. Dengue virus is transmitted to humans when a female Aedes aegypti mosquito bites a person. It is more likely to bite early in the morning or before dusk.

The symptoms of dengue include high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, pain in muscles and bones, rashes and back pain, among others.

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