KATHMANDU, May 3: The government has included the ambitious goal of expanding specialized treatment services from the federal capital to all seven provinces in its policy and program.
Relying on the plans and priorities that Health and Population Minister Pradeep Paudel announced on August 12, 2025, the policy and program aim to expand intensive burn treatment and cardiac care services across all seven provinces.
The government has introduced a program to expand cancer treatment and kidney transplant services to the provincial level. It also plans to provide HPV vaccines for cervical cancer and free cancer treatment for children under the age of 14.
In the policy and program for the upcoming fiscal year, the government has proposed major reforms in health insurance and improvements in the health and population sector.
Through the Ministry of Health and Population, the government aims to reduce the existing resource gap in health insurance by centralizing scattered resources and delivering all government subsidies and assistance through the health insurance system.
Health Insurance Reform Committee’s report proposes health insu...
This program aims to increase treatment support through health insurance and expand the number of people enrolled in the system.
The government plans to revise the benefits package by integrating the health insurance system, expanding treatment coverage, and including serious illnesses under insurance. It also intends to restructure the Insurance Board to ensure good governance and financial stability in the insurance sector.
To reduce the financial burden on the insurance system, the government will include essential and basic medicines in the insurance scheme. By integrating all scattered health services, it seeks to address resource shortages and improve service efficiency in institutions such as the Social Security Fund and the Employees Provident Fund that provide health and treatment services.
The government will launch the "Healthy Nepal Campaign" through its policy and program. Under this initiative, the federal, provincial, and local governments will work together to provide all citizens with quality basic health services. The campaign aims to eliminate duplication in healthcare spending and run effective health programs with limited resources.
Minister Pradeep Paudel, who continues to emphasize improving curative services, aims to raise awareness before diseases occur by declaring the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) each year as Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Screening Month. Beginning this year, he launched the program to conduct annual screenings for cervical cancer in women and other non-communicable diseases for the general population.
Minister Paudel formed a study committee to establish a government brain center. Based on the committee's recommendations, the policy and program include plans to establish a state-of-the-art National Neuroscience Center in Kathmandu for treating brain, spinal cord, mental, and neurological diseases. This will add a specialized hospital, which the government currently lacks, and will provide citizens with access to affordable treatment at government hospitals.
Citizens commonly complain about government hospitals operating in outdated ways. The lack of an integrated system causes difficulties, as referrals are not smoothly managed, and bed availability is often uncertain. To address this, the government has adopted a policy to launch an integrated online system that will track bed availability in all hospitals and facilitate referrals or cooperation between them. The development of this program through the Nagarik App will make it easier for citizens to access services.
The government has launched a program to establish Yogamaya Ayurveda University to strengthen Ayurveda and promote alternative medicine. This initiative aims to boost the domestic production of skilled human resources in the field of Ayurveda.
Through its policy and program, the government plans to strengthen the public health surveillance system to prevent infectious diseases and respond effectively to epidemics.
It also seeks to address the challenge of negative population growth observed in many districts. The policy and program commit to formulating a population policy that maintains the birth rate above the replacement level. Additionally, the government plans to link the health and demographic registration system with the integrated health information system.
