Personal vigilance important to avoid contracting COVID-19 – Dr. Binod Dangal

Dr. Binod Dangal is the Director of Health Services at Nyaya Health Nepal. Her tenure at the proposed Charikot Hospital (Primary Health Center) in Dolakha district headquarters Charikot has ended. Dr. Dangal, who has been providing services in the front line for the treatment of all other patients along with corona infection, has been providing treatment services to the people of Dolakha for the last 10 years. During the pandemic, Dr. Dangal has provided treatment services to the patients sent back from different parts of the country including Kathmandu due to corona. Dr. Dangal, who has a permanent home in Sangachokgadhi Ward No. 7, Chautara, Sindhupalchowk, has completed his schooling with the help of Italian woman Teresa Niccoli. Similarly, he has done MD from Tribhuvan University with flying grades. He completed his MD with good marks and also received Dr. Laxminarayan Prasad Gold Medal.
Dr. Dangal has trained in ultrasound and endoscopy in India and has a special course in trauma at the Royal College of Surgeons, St George’s University, UK. He has also done a course in Global Health at Harvard University in the United States. Similarly, he has completed the first and second-trimester abortion, vasectomy, TV, HIV, STD, CVI, MNCI training provided by the Government of Nepal.

1) The proposed Charikot Hospital is treating patients not only from the Dolakha district but also from other districts as well who could not get treatment due to the Corona pandemic. What are the problems faced in treating other patients with Corona infected patients?

As per the decision of the Crisis Management Committee of Bhimeshwar Municipality of Dolakha during the Corona pandemic, the hospital has so far has done 700 PCR tests and treated 60 people in direct isolation. It has also been providing maternity services, surgery services, emergency services, and treatment services for long-term patients.
There are problems such as delay in reporting corona infection in the hospital especially for PCR test, lack of ventilator and necessary skilled manpower for serious corona patients, inability to provide alternative management to health workers in case of corona infection.

2) What are the precautions to be taken by the health workers and the general public to avoid the contraction of coronavirus as the definite treatment method or medicine of coronavirus is not available at present?

As corona infection is a visible danger to all, especially wearing a mask while going out of the house, keep a certain distance; open the windows and doors in the workplace to provide proper ventilation. Senior citizens, long-term patients, and people with immune problems should stay at home and keep the necessary distance, in order to develop immunity, one should take personal precautions such as eating nutritious food, exercise, getting enough sleep, and not taking stress.

3) You have been in the service of patients in the Dolakha district for 10 years now. What kind of patients are there in Dolakha in particular and what do you think the government should do to make it possible for them to get proper treatment in the district?

In my 10 years of experience, there are many problems in Dolakha, especially gastric, asthma, pneumonia, obstetrics, gynaecology, mental illness, heart, appendicitis, hernia, piles, bruises, and paediatrics.

For this, there is a need for a well-organized medical center with physical facilities in Dolakha, management of ICU, the separate arrangement of OPD, the arrangement of skilled manpower, modern equipment including a ventilator, and special training for health workers and staff.

4) What are your thoughts about the future after leaving Nyaya Health Nepal, Dolakha?

After leaving Nyaya Health Nepal, Bhimeshwar Municipality will run the hospital with the old facilities for which I will serve under the Bhimeshwar Municipality for a few months under management and clinical responsibility, and then I will continue to serve other remote places of Nepal with the continuation of my MPH.

5) In the proposed Charikot Hospital, maternity patients from all over the district are receiving treatment services under your leadership. What do you think should be improved in the hospital to further expand and improve the quality of maternity services?

In the five years of operation of the proposed Charikot Hospital by Nyaya Health Nepal, 4,100 women have received maternity services out of which only 13 percent have undergone surgery. This figure is similar to the developed countries of the world. Nyaya Health Nepal has run community health programs in the health facilities of four municipalities of the district and the number of women giving birth in the health facilities in those municipalities is 80 percent. This is a very good achievement. In order to provide excellent maternity services in the district, separate maternity ward and ICU, skilled manpower and necessary equipment should be added.

6) The proposed Charikot Hospital was run by Nyaya Health Nepal for five years. During this period, under your leadership, the patients also got excellent services free of cost. What kind of help do you think the three tiers of government should do?

The partnership between Nyaya Health Nepal and the government in the field of healthcare is the first in the history of Nepal. In the last five years, 280,000 people of Dolakha have received free treatment. It has become the best health institution in Nepal in the use of complex surgery, digital health, and electronic systems.

Mayor of Bhimeshwor Municipality Bharat Bahadur KC has shown readiness to provide services with the same facilities in the case of Nyaya Health Nepal. Now the local and the state government must also provide the necessary assistance.

7) Nyaya Health Nepal, which has taken the responsibility of running the hospital for 10 years, is it right to go back in five years citing financial reasons? Is the reason for leaving Nyaya Health Nepal only financial or are there other reasons as well?

Nyaya Health Nepal had signed an agreement for 10 years with the aim of developing infrastructure and increasing access to health, but in the last five years, work has been done to expand access to infrastructure development and health services. In the meantime, the political situation has changed and the local government has become stronger, so one of the goals of Nyaya Health Nepal has been achieved.

Moreover, the government has not shown interest in the work of NGOs in Nepal, so cooperation has not lasted for a long time. If the government had monitored, audited, and assisted the work, there would have been a situation where Nyaya Health Nepal could have lasted for the duration of the agreement.