Kathmandu, July 9
The Government of Nepal and the Nepal Medical Association (NMA) have reached an agreement, leading to the withdrawal of the ongoing protest by doctors.
The agreement was made during a meeting held on Tuesday evening at the Ministry of Health and Population. The discussion involved Health Minister Pradeep Paudel, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ajay Chaurasiya, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Damodar Bhandari, and representatives of the NMA.
Following the agreement, the NMA has officially called off all protest programs.
The NMA had launched a nationwide protest on Monday, halting all hospital services except emergency care. The protest was in response to recent rulings by the Consumer Court, which the association claimed interfered with the jurisdiction of the Nepal Medical Council regarding medical practice.
The doctors had demanded amendments to the Consumer Protection Act and the Criminal Code, expressing concern that medical professionals were being unfairly penalized in cases of alleged negligence.
In recent weeks, the Consumer Court had ruled in favor of patients’ families in several cases. The court had ordered Om Hospital to pay Rs 5.07 million in compensation, Himal Hospital and involved doctors to pay Rs 14.5 million, and Grande City Hospital and its medical staff to pay Rs 5.7 million.
Citing dissatisfaction with the verdicts and their implications for the medical profession, doctors had taken to protest under the leadership of the NMA.
