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Hetauda Sub Metropolitan City Ward 9 is providing free medicines, laboratory tests and local clinical services for residents with chronic illnesses through the Lamsure Basic Health Centre. OnlineKhabar published a detailed report at 1:44 pm Nepal time on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. The programme has operated for about four and a half years under a village hospital concept, reducing the need for many residents to travel elsewhere or find money each month for essential treatment.
The centre receives about 40 to 50 patients each day and has provided treatment and medicines to around 13,000 people during the programme period, according to auxiliary health worker Anjita Rimal. It distributes 98 medicines supplied through the government system, while the ward purchases an additional 82 types using its own budget. The combined list covers conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, mental illness, high cholesterol, arthritis and thyroid disorders. Individual eligibility and medicine availability still depend on clinical assessment and stock.
Some patients receive medicines valued at Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 in a month, Ward Chairperson Sukaram KC told the source. The programme began in 2079 BS with a ward allocation of Rs 500,000. The budget rose to Rs 1 million in the following year and reached Rs 2 million for health services in 2083 BS. Bagmati Province’s health ministry contributed Rs 1 million for equipment in fiscal year 2082 to 2083 and allocated another Rs 1 million for the current fiscal year.
The service extends beyond people who can visit the health centre. Health workers make home visits for residents who cannot walk, persons with disabilities and people living with chronic disease. Staff can also take oxygen equipment to patients who require support at home. Four female community health volunteers assist with home based care. This approach addresses a common access problem in chronic disease management, where the people who most need regular monitoring can be the least able to travel to a facility.
Specialist access has also been built into the local programme. Through an annual agreement with the Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences, two physicians visit twice each month, while a gynaecologist and a radiologist visit monthly. The centre operates a laboratory with 20 types of tests that are provided without charge. Two community clinics at Shiv Panchayan Temple and Kalimai Temple operate twice a month, taking selected services closer to neighbourhoods within the ward.
Ward planning was informed by a household survey covering 24 local development organisations. Centre records list 1,161 people receiving follow up care for hypertension and 474 receiving follow up care for diabetes, alongside patients with cardiovascular, lung, thyroid and other noncommunicable diseases. Those numbers describe people recorded by this local service, not the prevalence of illness across Hetauda or Nepal. They nevertheless show why regular medicine supply and follow up consultations became a significant ward budget priority.
The programme is a local example rather than an automatic nationwide entitlement. Residents outside Ward 9 should not assume that the same medicine list, budget or home service is available in their municipality. The verified development is that one ward has combined federal medicine supplies, its own purchasing, provincial equipment support, specialist partnerships, laboratory testing and community outreach into a continuing primary care model. Future evaluation would need to examine medicine stock continuity, clinical outcomes and whether similar arrangements can be sustained or adapted by other local governments.
Source publication date: 2026-10-07. Event or reporting period: 2026-10-07.
Sources:OnlineKhabar English · Hetauda Sub Metropolitan City Ward 9
Source: GPT News Feed
