Health in Nepal

Population growth	1.74
Life expectancy	69.2	Infant mortality	29.40
Fertility	2.18
Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2014)	137
Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2009)	5.8

Health care services in Nepal are provided by both the public and private sector and fare poorly by international standards. Disease prevalence is higher in Nepal than it is in other South Asian countries, especially in rural areas. Moreover, the country’s topographical and sociological diversification helps to promote periodic epidemics of infectious diseases, epizootics and natural hazards like floods, forest fires, landslides and earthquakes. Millions of people are at risk of infection and thousands die every year due to communicable diseases, malnutrition and other health-related events which particularly affect the poor living in rural areas. However, some improvements in health care have been made, most notably significant progress in maternal-child health. For example, Nepal’s Human Development Index (HDI) was 0.458 in 2011 up from 0.291 in 1975. Other improvements include:

In 2002, the government funding for health matters was approximately US$2.30 per person. Approximately 70% of health expenditures came from out-of-pocket contributions. Government allocation for health care was around 5.8% of the budget for 2009. In 2012, the Nepalese government decided to launch a pilot program on universal health insurance in three districts of the country.

Health care facilities, hygiene, nutrition, and sanitation in Nepal are of poor quality, particularly in the rural areas. Despite that, it is still beyond the means of most Nepalese. Provision of health care services are constrained by inadequate government funding. The poor and excluded have limited access to basic health care due to its high costs and low availability. The demand for health services is further lowered by the lack of health education. Reproductive health care is neglected, putting women at a disadvantage. In its 2009 human development report, UN highlighted a growing social problem in Nepal. Individuals who lack a citizenship are marginalized and are denied access to government welfare benefits. Traditional beliefs have also been shown to play a significant role in the spread of disease in Nepal.

These problems have led many governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to implement communication programs encouraging people to engage in healthy behavior such as family planning, contraceptive use, spousal communication, safe motherhood practices, and use of skilled birth attendants during delivery and practice of immediate breastfeeding.

Micro-nutrient deficiencies are widespread, with almost half of pregnant women and children under five, as well as 35 percent of women of reproductive age being anemic. Only 24 percent of children consume iron-rich food, 24 percent of children meet a minimally acceptable diet, and only half of pregnant women take recommended iron supplementation during pregnancy. A contributing factor to deteriorating nutrition is high diarrheal disease morbidity, exacerbated by the lack of access to proper sanitation and the common practice of open defecation (44 percent) in Nepal.

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Wikipedia