Nepal facing medicine shortage due to protesters

Nepalese people, left, wait to buy medicines at a chemist shop in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, November 19, 2015.

Nepal's hospitals and personal medical distributors reported operating brief of drugs due to the to date two-month-previous violent protests alongside the Nepal-India border which have led to blockading of provides of important items, drugs and gasoline.

"All we can add is if the political challenges facing Nepal are addressed, we can hope it would assuage the concerns the protesters have leading to a return to peace and normalcy in the affected areas of the Terai, including the border crossings being now occupied by the Nepalese protesters and thereby improve the supply situation in the country".

As Nepal began to reel under a severe shortage of essential drugs following a two-month-old blockading of the southern border with India, the agitating Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha on Thursday chose to facilitate safe passage of medicines to Kathmandu.

The traditionally marginalized Madhesis have been protesting Nepal's new constitution, demanding to be given greater autonomy over local matters.

But with Nepal importing 60 per cent of its pharmaceuticals from India, supplies are now running low. The remaining locally made drugs also get most of the raw material and packaging from India.

"In fact, I think this question should really be put to the government of Nepal and not to the government of India", he said.

The restrictions are prompting fuel rationing and forcing the government to start selling firewood as residents run out of cooking gas.

The meeting also agreed to allow trucks carrying medicines, oxygen cylinders and health-related equipment stranded in Raxaul, India, to enter Nepal from Rani, Biratnagar, during the day.

Besides the emergency medicines, patients with long-term illnesses including high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney and heart diseases, were also having difficulty finding medicine.

"Earlier, we didn't let schools open fearing for safety of children as the security forces had been shooting indiscriminately", said Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav.

The meeting of the Morcha took the decision regarding transportation of medicines on humanitarian grounds, keeping in mind the medical treatment of patients, said a statement issued after the meeting.