12 May 2021, Butwal: With infected cases of coronavirus increasing at an alarming rate, the health care center, hospitals of the country are on the brink of collapse. Lumbini Province, which hosts the second-highest number of active cases after Bagmati Province-the worst-hit state, is struggling to meet the oxygen demand. Hospitals such as Corona Special Hospital, Beljhundi, Dang, Lumbini Provincial Hospital, Bhim Hospital, Bhairahawa are turning away critical patients infected with the virus for lack of available beds and sufficient oxygen supplies.
Nabin Thapa Magar, a member of Ward No-7 of Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City succumbed to death waiting for a hospital bed. The 44-year-old tested positive for the virus and was in home isolation. As the situation in the Province is deteriorating by the minute, medical professionals and hospitals have opted to social media requesting the authorities to manage oxygen and save lives.
Shankar Pokhrel, Chief Minister of Lumbini Province wrote on his social media handle that the Government is continuously working towards the management of oxygen cylinders in the province. Although the Province Government assures to be working in managing the crisis, more than 10 patients losing lives every day due to lack of oxygen and adequate hospital beds are increasingly becoming a grim reality.
Advocacy Forum’s (AF) lawyers are persistently monitoring the situation all over Nepal caused by the virulent virus which has severely impacted the constitutionally guaranteed people’s fundamental rights i.e. the right to life, the right to health. Therefore, AF urges the Governments of all levels to scale up their efforts on saving lives.
