Kathmandu, Feb. 10 -- Free cardiac care for children under 15 years of age has been affected as the Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre has run out of the government-provided budget within the first half of the fiscal year.

The hospital, which serves as the national referral centre for cardiac care, started charging parents of children with serious heart conditions after government officials informed them that no additional funding would be available to continue children's free treatment.

"We get Rs120 million to perform valve replacements and other surgeries for 500 children," Dr Rabi Malla, executive director at the hospital, told the Post. "Within six months of the ongoing fiscal year, we performed surgeries on 474 children, and we...