Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Press Council Nepal (PCN) has expressed concern over YouTube videos featuring interviews conducted with individuals undergoing treatment in hospital Intensive Care Units (ICUs).
In a statement, PCN said its attention has been drawn to an interview conducted by a YouTube channel named ‘Inside the Bunker’ with individuals injured in the Rasuwa floods who were undergoing treatment in a hospital’s intensive care unit.
In the interview, the host can be seen interviewing Kabir Maharjan and Sanjay Sah, who were rescued from the Trishuli 3A tunnel 10 days after the Bhotekoshi floods, in the ICU of Nepali Army Hospital in Chhauni.
PCN also said that it was also studying an interview broadcast by BBC Nepali on July 5 featuring a mountain guide, who was found on the seventh day after going missing on Mt Everest, while they were undergoing treatment in a hospital’s intensive care unit.
“Since an intensive care unit is not a regular place for conducting interviews, it is crucial to seriously consider the patient’s health condition, privacy, consent, human dignity, and the potential impact on the treatment process,” PCN’s Assistant Spokesperson Ram Sharan Bhohara said in the statement. “We are studying both pieces of content from the perspective of the journalistic code of ethics. We have also requested necessary information from the concerned media personnel, the hospitals, and the Medical Council.”
The respective hospitals have been asked to clarify whether the media personnel conducted the interviews after obtaining permission from the hospital administration, the patient and the patient’s family, PCN said.
Similarly, the PCN has also sent a letter to the Nepal Medical Council to provide information on whether media personnel are permitted entry into the ICU.
