Central Jail inmates brought under health insurance coverage

KATHMANDU: Health insurance scheme has been offered to inmates of Central Jail.

The Jail Management Department implemented the health insurance scheme to be effective from mid-February with an objective of providing easy access to inmates in their health treatment.

Chief of Health Program at the Central Jail, Kalpana Gyawali, shared that the health insurance scheme was implemented targeting the inmates who have spent more than one year in the central jail.

The Department has covered the health insurance scheme of Rs 3500 for each inmate and the insurance cover would be automatically invalid once the inmate completes his/her jail term.

Jail Administrator Lalit Basnet explained that the health insurance program for inmates was implemented with an objective of helping for the health of the prisoners. With this, each prisoner would get treatment of Rs 100,000 through insurance coverage.

Apart from this, the government has been providing medical treatment to the inmates through the Central Prison Hospital.

Jail Administrator Basnet said the patients who cannot be treated at the Hospital are treated at various 25 hospitals with which the Prison Administration has signed agreement with for that purpose.  The Central Prison Hospital has 30 beds.

The Hospital has been providing OPD, lab, X-ray, ECG, ultrasound, dental, psychiatric, dermatological and eye care services. It has also been conducting health camps targeting the inmates from time to time.

There are 3,721 inmates at the Central Jail and other prison houses under it.