Nepal doctors return to work as government gives ground on reform =

Kathmandu (dpa) – Hospitals in Nepal resumed normal operations Friday, after doctors ended their strike over health sector reform, the Nepal Medical Association said.

"We have already directed all the doctors nationwide to return to work from this morning after the government agreed to respond to our demands," the association's doctor Narsingh KC said.

The doctors launched their action in support of a surgeon who started a hunger strike two weeks ago demanding an end to political pressure on hospital appointments, and the repeal of a 5-per-cent tax on medical services.

Surgeon Govinda KC, no relation, ended his hunger strike early Friday.

Narsingh KC said the government on Wednesday agreed to reinstate a former dean at Govinda KC's hospital, who the surgeon believed had been replaced due to political pressure.

The government also said it would form a task force to establish a University of Health Science, another of Govinda KC's demands, and roll back a 5-per-cent tax on health services.

The strike had closed out-patient departments at 400 hospitals across Nepal since the weekend.

On Thursday, doctors ran a free health camp in the centre of the capital Kathmandu, although they refused to provide in-house services at the hospitals.

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## dpa Contacts
- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Robin Powell
Tel: +66 2 7142073; <englishservice@dpa.com>
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Doctors in Nepal resign en masse over alleged political meddling =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Some 200 doctors in Nepal resigned Tuesday in support of a colleague who has been on hunger strike for 11 days to protest political interference at hospitals.

The Nepal Medical Association confirmed the move by the doctors from at around 400 hospitals, a day after the Supreme Court ordered them to return to work.  

Govinda KC, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, began the protest after the appointment of a new dean for the facility's Institute of Medicine. KC said he was given the job because of his political connections.

The chairman of the Nepalese cabinet, Khilaraj Regmi, on Tuesday directed the university to scrap the dean's appointment and appealed to KC to end his protest.

The 200 doctors stopped work Sunday in a show of solidarity with KC, leaving only emergency and intensive care units operational at the country's hospitals since.


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## dpa Contacts
- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Benita van Eyssen
Tel: +66 2 7142073; <englishservice@dpa.com>

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Nepalese doctors strike to protest alleged nepotism =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Hundreds of doctors in Nepal went on strike in support of a colleague's hunger strike against alleged political senior hospital appointments, police said Monday.

Three dozen protestors were briefly detained for demonstrating in a prohibited zone after marching toward the government's administrative hub of Singha Durbar, police said.

Doctors stopped providing all but emergency treatment at hospitals across Nepal Sunday to support doctor Govinda KC, whose hunger strike entered its ninth day Monday.

The doctor says the dean of the Institute of Medicine at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital where he works was appointed thanks to his political connections. He has asked the government to revoke the dean's appointment, and reconsider several others.

More than 300 members of the Nepal Medical Association gathered in Kathmandu, saying they would continue their strike unless Govinda KC's demands are fulfilled.

Doctors treating him said his health was failing.

The government has directed Tribhuvan University to reconsider its recent appointments.

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## dpa Contacts
- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Chris Dickson
Tel: +66 2 7142073; <englishservice@dpa.com>
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Fast, doctors strike held in Nepal to protest political appointees =

Kathmandu (dpa) - Doctors stopped providing all but emergency treatment at hospitals across Nepal Sunday to support a colleague on hunger strike to protest political appointments at hospitals, the Nepal Doctors Association said.

Govinda KC, a doctor at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, started his fast a week ago, asking the government to revoke the appointment of the dean of the university's Institute of Medicine and reconsider other recent appointments.

Doctors said they would continue their strike unless KC's demands are fulfilled.

Doctors attending KC said his health was failing.

The government directed Tribhuvan University to reconsider recent appointments.

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## dpa Contacts
- Reporting by: Pratibha Tuladhar
- Editing by: Lea Ann Schnakenberg
Tel: +49 30 2852 31472; <englishservice@dpa.com>

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Nepal launches sex education via text messaging =

  Kathmandu (dpa) - Nepal has launched a programme to provide sex education to prostitutes via text messages on mobile phones, reports said Sunday.

   The programme began in Chitwan district, 200 kilometres south of the capital Kathmandu, according to national news agency RSS.

   Yubraj Sapkota of non-governmental organization Sahabhagi said the initiative was necessary because sex workers were often too shy to seek advice or reveal their status.

   He said the programme was aimed at teaching them about safe sex and sexually transmitted diseases.

   Data collected by Sahabhagi showed there were about 1,000 sex workers in the district.
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Nepal confirms outbreak of bird flu

   Kathmandu (dpa) - Authorities in Nepal were preparing Sunday to cull hundreds of poultry after the government confirmed the outbreak of bird flu in the eastern region of the country.

   A laboratory test on a sample from a dead chicken had confirmed avian influenza in the districts of Sunsari and Ilam, the director of the National Animal Health Directorate, Ram Krishna Khatiwada, said.

   Authorities sent samples to Britain for testing after domestic ducks and chicken started dying last month. In Ilam, 2,000 ill birds have died and 5,000 have died in Sunsari.

   The agency sent staff to the region with instructions to start Monday killing hundreds of birds suspected of carrying the flu virus. The government says no humans have been infected so far. Avian flu can jump to people and is sometimes fatal.

   Nepal's first bird-flu outbreak was reported in 2009 and led to a mass cull.
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