Chapter-1 Preliminary
- Short title and commencement: (1) This Act may be cited as the “Public Health Service Act, 2075 (2018).”
(2) This Act shall come into force immediately.
- Definitions: Unless the subject or the context otherwise requires, in this Act-
(a) “Emergency health service” means the initial and immediate service to be provided as it is necessary to free the lives of the persons from risk, save the lives or organs from being lost, whose lives are in the risky condition upon falling into unexpected incident or emergency condition.
(b) “Basic health service” means promotional, retributive, diagnostic, remedial and rehabilitative service easily and freely available from the state for the sake of fulfillment of health need of citizens generally, pursuant to sub-section (4) of Section 3.
(c) “Non-governmental or private health institution” means a health institution operated with the investment and ownership of the non-governmental or private sector, upon receiving permission under the prevailing law.
(d) “Physician” means a person registered in the concerned Council as a physician under the prevailing law.
(e) “Public health supervisor” means the office-bearer designated for monitoring and regulation related to public health.
(f) “Risk zone” means a workplace with any chemical, biological, climate change based, psycho-social, corporal, physical and geographic condition adversely affecting the human health due to workplace or nature of work, and this term also includes the possible risk likely to occur upon the health workers at the time of health treatment as well.
(g) “Prescribed” or “as prescribed” means prescribed or as prescribed in the rules framed under this Act.
(h) “Traditional treatment provider” means a person providing treatment traditionally through herbs, Jantav and minerals.
(i) “Ministry” means the Ministry of the Government of Nepal responsible for matters relating to health and population of the Government of Nepal.
(j) “Committee” means the National Public Health Committee referred to in Section 50.
(k) “Government health institution” means the health institution operated by the Federal, Provincial and Local Levels.
(l) “Community health worker” means a health worker as well as a woman health volunteer working in the institution or community after having prescribed qualification or training from the recognized institute on the subject of health service.
(m) “Service recipient” means the person receiving health service in a health institution.
(n) “Service provider” means a physician, health worker and community health worker working in a health institution after achieving certain qualification or training on the subject of health service from a recognized health institute.
(o) “Health worker” means a person registered in the concerned Council as a health worker under the prevailing law.
(p) “Health service” means retributive, promotional, diagnostic, remedial, rehabilitative and palliative service provided, based on modern treatment (allopathy), Ayurved, homeopathy, Unani, natural treatment, acupuncture, Sowarigpa (Amchi) treatment system.
(q) “Health institution” means a government health institution, and this term also includes a non-governmental or private, or cooperative or non-profit-making community health institution established under the prevailing law.