DEVASTATING FIRE IN SUNSARI

Kathmandu, 12 Dec.: A fire at a village in Sunsari Sunday destroyed houses damaging assets worth 1.4 million rupees, Radio Nepal reports.
More than 50 domestic animals died in the fire.
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RACKETEERS ARRESTED

Kathmandu, 12 Dec.: Eight persons, including women, were arrested from the premises of the foreign ministry Friday attempting to acquire passports by presenting fake citizenship papers.
Police believe they members of a racketeering gang.
Vigilance at the ministry has been intensified..
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JOINT PANEL TO MONITOR PLA COMBATANTS
Kathmandu, 12 Dec.: The Secretariat, tasked with bringing Maoist combatants under the government, has plans to form a joint mechanism comprising security forces and People’ Liberation Army representatives to monitor Maoist combatants after UNMIN departs next month. The Himalayan Times reports..

The mechanism will comprise representatives from Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and the People’s Liberation Army.

The Secretariat worked out this mechanism with the aim of involving the Maoists in the monitoring process. The Maoists had rejected its earlier proposal which mentioned that only ex-army men would be hired for the job of monitoring former Maoist combatants.

Dr Shambhu Ram Simkhada, a Nepali Congress member in the Secretariat, said the concept of joint mechanism has yet to get full shape. “The idea is still in its infancy. It needs to be further discussed with our Maoist colleagues,” he said.

Another member of the Secretariat informed that Maoist members in the Secretariat are not yet convinced with the proposal of a joint monitoring body. But, they appear to be more “positive” than with the earlier proposal.

“Our Maoist colleagues were not able to decide immediately. They have told us they need approval from the party high command,” he added.

In its earlier proposal, floated by the coordinator of the 12-member government body, retired lieutenant general of Nepal Army Balananda Sharma, 154 former Nepal army officers would be employed as monitors in all seven main and 21 satellite cantonments housing PLA combatants.
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BIR HOSPITAL MEETS WORLD STANDARDS

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Kathmandi, 12 Dec.: Two years ago, this very day, when the first kidney transplant service was carried out in Bir Hospital in spite of having a separate operation theatre, the transplant surgeons in the hospital were worried that they would fail again like in the past, Dev Kumar Sunuwar reports in The Kathmandu Post..

But, two years down the line the country’s oldest and biggest hospital has not only been able to carry out successful kidney transplants but also cross international standards in delivering renal transplant service, according to an official.

“We have many constraints. For instance, we have no separate operation theatre for kidney transplants, no specific team of surgeons and staff. Despite all this, we have been able to conduct kidney transplant like in internationally renowned hospitals, and at the cheapest price than anywhere else in the world,” said Dr. Pukar Chandra Shrestha, transplant surgeon at the hospital. “We have even crossed international standards in conducting kidney transplants.”

Dr. Shrestha, who has worked for over six years transplanting human organs, including kidneys, in Freeman hospital, Queen Elizabeth hospital and Royal Liverpool hospital in the UK, said, “We conduct the operation with methods similar to those used in the internationally renowned hospitals for kidney transplants and we apply the same medication, but the complication rates are less than in those hospitals. Thus, we can say that we have been able to surpass international standards, even though we have less quantity.”

According to him, internationally nearly seven percent of kidney patients have urology complaints, such as urine leakage and obstruction of urine, among others. Even Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), the first hospital to conduct a successful kidney transplant in the country, has some 24 percent kidney transplant patients with similar complications, but of the 39 successful kidney transplant patients in Bir Hospital, none has had any complication. Furthermore, internationally five percent of patients have infections whereas in Bir hospital the rate is only 3.5 percent. Internationally, the mortality rate is 5 percent, but in Bir Hospital it is 2.5 percent.

“The complication rate is one measuring unit where we stand taller in comparison to other parts of the world, as we have a lower rate of such complications and a higher rate of successful transplants. We can claim that our service is of an international standard,” added Dr. Shrestha.

In November 2004, Bir hospital made the first attempt to transplant kidney but failed. The hospital got success in its second attempt. On December 12, 2008, a team of surgeons comprising Dr. Sandip Gulariya of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr. Pukar Chandra Shrestha, Dr. Bijaya Kumar Sharma, Dr. Damodhar Pokharel, Dr. Bisworaj Joshi and Dr. Paras Mani Shrestha transplanted two kidneys at the hospital.

After the government allowed kidney transplant in the country on August 4, 2008, Maharajgunj-based TUTH conducted the first-ever transplant operation in a week the same year up until Saturday. It has conducted 60 successful transplants, while Bir became the country’s second hospital to transplant kidneys.
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