Nepal, May 9 -- The 2015 constitution guarantees basic health services for every Nepali citizen. The Public Health Service Act, 2018 specifically outlines these services, including immunisation, maternal, infant and pediatric care, free delivery, family planning measures, and tuberculosis medicines. Such policies not only aim to reduce the economic burden on citizens but also save the lives of economically vulnerable people. But then there is a huge gulf between these policies and their actual implementation.

Recently, certain private hospitals, medical colleges and community hospitals have been found to be exploiting patients by forcing them to pay for services the government has pledged to provide for free. They first collect fees for ...