The hospital authorities admitted that 13 kidney patients were infected with Hepatitis C and one with Hepatitis B due to negligence of the hospital staff last week.

The hospital chief Dr Puskar Chandra Shrestha said the health facility is going to implement the new measure to make sure that such diseases do not transmit to other patients. “Our aim is to reduce the infection rate to zero for our kidney patients,” he said, adding that they will also provide free dialysis to kidney transplant patients with Hepatitis B and C, and HIV from this week. He, however, said that such patients will have buy dialyser, needles, fluids and medication on their own. “We are ready to provide free services up to 20 such patients every day,” he said.

The centre aims to extend this free service to more patients in near future. A dialysis, including the cost of medicines, costs Rs 4,000 in private hospitals. Currently, government hospitals such as Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Bir Hospital and Patan Hospital have been providing the services to kidney patients.

Dr Divya Singh, senior nephrologist at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, said the possibility of transmitting such fatal diseases like Hepatitis B, C and HIV AIDS is higher if doctors and nurses are not careful while providing dialysis services.

The HOTC, which is known for providing kidney transplantation at minimum cost, has already given 25,000 dialysis sessions to 500 patients since it was established two years ago. Kidney transplant surgery at the centre costs around Rs 350,000, including Rs 50,000 for service charge.

According to Dr Kalpana Shrestha, consultant nephrologist at the HOTC, they are providing dialysis to 110 patients in three shifts from 7am to 11pm every day. Till date, the health facility has transplanted 56 kidneys.

The centre, which is being run in partnership with Arogya Foundation led by Ani Choying Drolma, announced a week ago that it would waive all the service charge for cases in which a man donates his kidney to a woman.