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Kathmandu, July 8: The Nepal Medical Association (NMA) has ended its ongoing protest following a three-point deal reached with the government on Tuesday evening.
The discussions took place at the Ministry of Health and Population and included Health Minister Pradip Poudel, Law Minister Ajay Chaurasiya, Industry Minister Damodar Bhandari, and NMA delegates. The dialogue was initiated after the NMA launched a nationwide strike from Monday, suspending all hospital services except for emergency care. The protest was triggered by recent rulings from the Consumer Court regarding alleged medical negligence—verdicts that doctors argued interfered with the jurisdiction of the Nepal Medical Council (NMC).
As part of the agreement, a three-member task force will be formed to recommend necessary legal and policy changes within a week. The task force will be led by the chief of the Department of Supply Management and Consumer Protection and include joint-secretary-level officials from the Ministries of Law and Health.
The task force’s findings will be submitted to the respective ministers and other stakeholders and will serve as a foundation for proposed reforms. Furthermore, the government has committed to securing in-principle approval from the Cabinet within seven days to initiate fast-track amendments to the Consumer Protection Act, 2018, and other related legislation.
The NMA had been seeking clearer legal definitions of medical responsibility, arguing that recent court orders mandating large compensation payments from hospitals such as Om, Himal, and Grande City set a harmful precedent for medical professionals. With the deal reached, the NMA has officially called off its protest activities.
People;s News Monitoring Service