The Ministry of Health and Food Hygiene has opened the draft Human Body Burn (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act, 2083 for public consultation following a ministerial-level decision on Shrawan 28, 2083. Citizens and stakeholders may submit comments to law.section@mohp.gov.np within seven days, by Bhadra 3, 2083. The bill is designed to give burn patients a legal right to accessible and quality treatment, immediate rescue and referral, rehabilitation, and protection from being denied care. It classifies burns as general or severe and defines severe burns to include major surface-area burns, deep burns, electrical, chemical, radiation and inhalation injuries, burns to sensitive organs, and injuries requiring surgery, skin grafting or long-term treatment.

Under the draft, no health institution or health worker would be allowed to refuse treatment to a burn patient. Facilities without adequate resources or specialists would have to provide emergency and basic care, stabilize the patient and arrange timely referral to an appropriate higher-level centre. All health facilities would provide basic burn care free of charge, while designated institutions would provide general, specialist and highly specialized burn services. The bill proposes free treatment of up to Rs 300,000, with an additional up to Rs 700,000 available with prior approval from the Burn Treatment Fund Management Committee, taking the maximum support to Rs 1 million per patient. Where negligence or failure of duty by a person, company or institution caused the burn, that party would be responsible for the treatment costs.

The bill would require specialist burn-treatment institutions to reserve at least five beds, while highly specialized burn centres would need at least 25 beds. The government could establish a dedicated national specialized burn hospital and, as needed, specialized hospitals in each province. Burn treatment would have to follow a nationally approved standard treatment protocol, while doctors, health workers and rescuers involved in burn care would be required to receive appropriate training. A Central Burn Treatment Committee, along with provincial and local committees, would oversee policy, coordination and implementation.

A dedicated Burn Treatment Fund would finance transport, diagnosis, emergency and inpatient care, surgery, medicines, assistive devices, psychosocial counselling, staff training, awareness programmes, research and medically necessary follow-up for up to one year. The fund could receive government allocations, provincial and local contributions, donations, international grants, fines and contributions from high-risk sectors such as electricity, petroleum, LPG, chemicals, explosives, batteries and other flammable-material industries. The draft also introduces penalties for refusing treatment or referral, failing safety obligations, submitting false bills or claiming duplicate benefits, while providing for physical, psychological, social and economic rehabilitation of burn survivors.