Early diagnosis of diseases through timely health screening is cost effective compared to treating the disease itself. Curing a disease at its later stage is more difficult, time consuming and stressful to family members, according to professionals in the health sector. Lives of many people have been saved because of early detection of fatal diseases, echoed professionals in the health industry. [break]
Various hospitals in the capital have been providing health packages designed to meet the necessity people of all ages since about two decades. These packages comprise various tests, which when taken separately cost Rs 800 to 900 more.
These packages are pay per visit and health professionals recommend one visit a year for people under 40 and two times a year for those over 40 years. People who are sure on which package to choose can consult physicians.
Norvic International Hospital at Thapathali provides nine health packages -- Child Health Plan (Rs 1,515), Women Health Plan (Rs 2,250), Comprehensive Medical Check-up (Rs 2,500), General Health Plan (Rs 2,500), General Cardiac Check-up (Rs 3,200), Comprehensive Diabetes Control Check-up (Rs 3,950), Comprehensive Cardiac Check-up (Rs 4,500), Executive Health Plan (Rs 6,650) and Parent´s Wellness Plan ($390/Rs 27,885).
Comprehensive medical check-up is the basic first examination, while the general health plan has some specific advanced tests like Echo and SGPT/ALT. Executive health plan is for people with busy and sedentary lifestyles, without much physical activity. Likewise, the women´s health plan focuses on gynecological problems and diseases like cervical cancer.
The parent´s wellness plan caters to parents of Non-resident Nepalis and provides complete care, along with fortnightly call, monthly home visit, and quarterly check-up, among others. Norvic has aggressively tried to promote these services through various organizations and trade fairs.
“Besides these health packages, Norvic also promotes the culture of proper diet and exercise for preventive care,” Praveen Dawar, vice president of corporate affairs and business development at Norvic, told myrepublica.com.
Medicare National Hospital & Research Center provides five health packages -- General Health Check-up (Rs 2,000), Complete Health Check-up (Rs 2,800), Comprehensive Cardiac Check-Up (Rs 2,800), Heart Attack Screening Check-up (Rs 4,800) and Executive Health Check-up (Rs 5,500).
“General health package is the most sought after package that we are providing,” said Bishnu Bdr Bajgain, hospital manager at Medicare.
Om Hospital & Research Center provides two health packages: Package 1 or general (Rs 3,255) and Package 2 or comprehensive (Rs 4,830). “Package 1 is mostly for students and overseas workers, while the Package 2 is for people aged 40 years and above, who are more prone to diseases,” said Radha Pathak of Om Hospital.
The government spends much on curative care but not enough on preventive care. Though few hospitals like Norvic are properly marketing its health packages, other hospitals are not keen in spreading information.
Private-public initiatives can help bring about awareness about these health packages and the government can push this by providing subsidies to people using health packages.
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