Nepal

Having been ruled by a monarchy since 1768 and after years of conflict, the establishment of a democratic republic in 2008 created significant potential for improvement of health indicators in the country. The health care system the newly elected government inherited was poor. Although there are (comparatively) good facilities in the major towns and cities, rural areas are neglected. This is compounded by the high incidence of disease, poor sanitary conditions and inadequate immunization programs. Almost 40% of children under 5 suffer from malnutrition and the country has an infant mortality rate of 14% in rural areas.

A lack of drugs in government health institutions has markedly reduced access to essential drugs by poor patients. One way this could be alleviated is if the government removed tariffs on pharmaceutical imports. Most categories of medicine are taxes at 15%, with the exception of vaccines, which are tax free.