By IANS
Kathmandu : A maternity hospital built in southern Nepal with the assistance of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has not been in use even four years after its completion due to the government’s failure to appoint doctors, state media reported Tuesday.
Located in Taulihawa town in Kapilavastu district, the region where the Buddha was born, the hospital was built at a cost of Nepali Rs.4.3 million, the government-owned Rising Nepal daily said Tuesday.
It has eight post-operation wards and state-of-the-art surgical equipment. However, there is no doctor.
Four years ago, a gynaecologist had been appointed to run the hospital. However, he left for higher studies after just a week, and since then there is no doctor, the daily said.
Despite having a hospital at their doorstep, women in Kapilavastu have to go to other districts for medical treatment. To add to the hospital’s woes, disuse is slowly causing it to fall into dilapidation.
“There is litter and garbage everywhere and the whole place stinks,” the daily said. Some of the rooms have been turned into junkyards.
Nepal has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. One of the poorest countries in the world, it has limited healthcare access but also a reputation of letting major donor-aided projects go to waste.