Sonal Singh's description of an elderly woman receiving excellent care at so little expense illustrates one of the wonderful things about living in Kathmandu. The city is truly a different world from the remote valleys on the other side of the mountain ridge that surrounds the Kathmandu Valley. Yet while care is available at low cost in the city, there are many people outside Kathmandu who do not have the resources to cover even such relatively minor expenses: the average annual income is only US$235.1 As the Maoist insurgency worsens and the economy crumbles, there is an ever-increasing need for charity health care to help the extremely poor. It is my hope that Nepali physicians, like Singh, will be enthusiastic about returning to their homeland to help build a better health care system, where even the poorest can find assistance. Such individuals represent the hope for the future of Nepal in this time of turmoil.
Geoffrey C. Ibbotson Surgeon Calgary, Alta.
Reference
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