“They will provide 10 dialysis machines if the government provides a building to install them,” ambassador Tamang said. He put the cost of each machine at around US$40,000. Tamang said the group wants all the machines installed at a single facility rather than distributing them to many public hospitals as they feel that a single center with all these machines would provide more effective services. [break]
The Japanese organization will also provide one-month training in Japan to one medical officer, one medical engineer and two nurses to make them competent in running the proposed dialysis center.
The group has 64 hospitals in Japan specializing in health care of senior citizens, and many more outside. It doesn´t seek pre-deposits for hospitalization and provides general wards for free in Japan. It also provides financial assistance to cover living expenses of patients in need, its website says.
As the group has a charitable reputation even in Japan, it wants the assistance to help make dialysis facility accessible to poor people in Nepal, according to Tamang. “They are willing to contribute at a much larger level in the health sector of Nepal. They have already built hospitals in Mozambique, Indonesia and Thailand and have talked about expanding assistance in Nepal to that level,” Tamang read through the group´s proposal letter.
The group´s website informs that Tokushukai Sofia Hospital (1,016 beds) built in December 2006 was its first international hospital and it has exchanged Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with 24 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.
Once the agreement is reached with the government, the group´s team will come from Tokyo and install the machines at the facility. Ambassador Tamang tried to meet Health Secretary Dr Sudha Sharma Monday to submit the proposal but couldn´t due to the latter´s busy schedule. Secretary Dr Sharma acknowledged she has heard about the Japanese proposal and said the government was willing to accept it. “I haven´t officially received the proposal but I have taken it positively,” Dr Sharma said.
Dr Sharma said the ministry was thinking about shifting the nephrology unit at Bir Hospital to Bhaktapur and install these 10 machines there to make it a specialized facility for nephrology providing all kinds of kidney-related services.
premdhakal@myrepublica.com
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