Koirala to be flown to S'pore on Saturday Air ambulance coming
REPUBLICA
(Updated with details)
KATHMANDU, Nov 13: Former prime minister and President of Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala is being taken to Singapore Saturday for treatment as doctors attending on him have now declared him fit to travel.
His daughter Sujata Koirala, also deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, said that he is being flown to Singapore in an air ambulance.
He is going to be treated at the Gleneagles Hospital, a 380-bed private tertiary acute care hospital located right next to the Singapore Botanic Gardens in the heart of the city. The hospital is a regional center for medical referrals for the Singapore-based Parkway Hospitals Singapore.
Suffering from problems with the chest, Koirala was due to leave for Singapore last Wednesday. But the trip was abandoned after his doctors advised that it would be risky to take Koirala in a commercial flight in view of his deteriorating health condition.
"He is fit to travel now. Some medical tests, which cannot be done in Nepal, are required," Doctor Arun Maskey, one of the physicians involved in Koirala´s treatment, told journalists Friday afternoon.
Energy Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat told myrepublica.com that the government would bear the cost of Koirala´s treatment. "The prime minister and all cabinet ministers agree that the government should cover expenses of his treatment. But the cabinet has yet to take a formal decision in this regard."
A team led by Dr Shekhar Koirala flew to Singapore on Friday to make necessary arrangements and Sujata is also flying with her father.
Dr Man Bahadur KC and Dr Geju Pokharel will accompany Koirala in the air ambulance all the way from Kathmandu to Singapore.
Koirala calls from hospital bed for agreement
Meanwhile, Koirala has urged the UCPN (Maoist) to give up its protests, saying that this was not the time for protests. "I have only one request to the Maoists: Please give up the protests for the sake of national unity and consensus," Koirala told Nepal Television.
Only Nepal Television was allowed to interview Koirala even though journalists from other media organizations were also present at the hospital.
He stressed the need for forming the much-talked about high-level political mechanism. "The mechanism will solve all the [political] problems," Koirala said.
He further said that no one should try to harm the dignity of the president. "A middle way should be sought [to the present political stalemate]," he said.
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Koirala To Be Flown To S'pore On Saturday Air Ambulance Coming
NO WAY! Why is the government bearing the expenses of this man? Is our national property the private property of the Koiralas or smth? Is this why his daughter was made the FM and DPM, so that she could siphon off the money to keep this dead man walking?!
I hope he recovers out of the sake of humanity. BUT THERE'S NO WAY STATE RESOURCES SHOULD BE USED FOR THIS OLD MAN'S EXPENSIVE TREATMENTS!!!
Many ppl in old age succumb to lung problems like
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