This article presents an analysis of the overall health situation in Nepal. Despite improvements in this sector, especially over the last half-century, the standard of people's health is till very poor, particularly in remote villages. The progress has been seriously impeded owing not only to the low level of economic development but also to numerous adverse situations such as political instability, corruption, economic mismanagement, inadequate financial resources, poor accessibility, insufficient policy measures, weak institutional framework, and less effective policy and programme execution. The related ramifications comrpise the major facets of the discussion.
Serious development disparities persist and even seem to be worsening among the country's various census regions with regard to the health dimension as well. To overcome this situation, it is necessary to reverse the trend and tendency of concentrating attention, resources and care into relatively easier and more prosperous areas at the cost of undermining the backward and remote ones. In this regard, it is equally important to greatly emphasize the primary health care services for deprived people in the lagging areas rather than building huge curative service installations in privileged urban enclaves. Detailed views on these issues are contained in the conclusion.
