Nepal

Country Profile

Picture Source:  www.cia.gov                          

The Kingdom of Nepal is a landlocked Asian country in the Himalaya Mountains.  It is a highly populous country with a population of approximately 26 million inhabitants, at a population growth of 2.2% (2002 estimates).  Nepal is bordered by India to the east, south and west and Tibet to the north.  The official language is Nepali, which is spoken by 90% of the population.  A dozen other languages are also spoken, however many governments and business use the English language.  The main religion is Hindu (90%), with Buddhist and Islam constituting 5% and 3% of the population, respectively.  Nepal is the only official Hindu state in the world.

Nepal is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament that comprises of a 205 member House of Representatives and a 60 member National Assembly as the supreme legislative body.  The House of Representatives is elected on a five-year term basis and the members of the National Assembly hold office for a six-year term.  Executive power is vested in the King and the Council of Ministers, which is answerable to the House of Representatives.  Nepal is divided into 5 development regions, 14 zones, 75 districts, 3,995 village development committees and 36 municipalities.  The legal system is based on English common law as well as the Hindu legal concepts.

Agriculture, including forestry and fishing contributed an estimated 40% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1999-2000.  The countries principal cash crops are rice, maize, barley, millet, wheat, sugar cane, tobacco, potatoes, fruits and oilseeds.  According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 93% of the economically active population was employed in that sector in 1999.  In recent years, textile and carpet production account for approximately 80% of foreign exchange, in lieu of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.  Between 1990 and 1999, Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated to have increased in real terms at an average annual rate of 5%.

A national health policy (NHP) in Nepal was formulated in 1991 with the objective of enhancing the health status of the population, 90% of which is rural.  The NHP is a comprehensive policy that addresses service delivery as well as the administrative structure of the health system. The 8th Health Plan (1992-1997) was developed to aid the NHP.  The main features of the health plan are the development of an integrated health service, mobilization of the private sector to develop specialized as well as general health services, maternal child health/family planning (MCH/FP) to be made an integral part of primary health care (PHC) services, decentralization of health administration, the traditional system of medicine to be developed, and the participation of national and international NGOs, private enterprises and foreign investors to be promoted.  Policy achievements include the adoption of an integrated approach to all programs (no vertical programs), and the implementation of special projects such as district health systems development, safe motherhood, community drug schemes, the health management information system, and special surveys to re-evaluate the achievement in health policy. The main constraints experienced are frequent changes of government, limited national resources for health services development, centralized administration, ineffective management and supervision, difficult terrain and slow economic growth.

According to the World Health Organization, life expectancy has been steadily increasing since 1995 as a result of the improving socioeconomic conditions and better health care provisions.  The reduction in infant mortality rate (IMR) has been a major contributory factor.  According to 2002 statistics, IMR is 72.4 per 1,000 live births.  The registration of vital statistics is grossly inadequate in Nepal as a result of limited resources, illiteracy, lack of supplies and poor monitoring and supervision of services.  Immunizations with all EPI vaccines for children under the age of one have been low, at 43% (1996), while women with two doses/boosters of tetanus toxoid during pregnancy were 33%.  National immunization days have been successful in 1997 and 1997.  Constraints include a shortage of manpower, problems with maintaining and repairing cold chain equipment and inadequate funding.

Morbidity data is unreliable and unclassified by age or sex.  The leading causes are malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, EPI-target diseases and acute respiratory infection (ARI), and nutritional disorders.  There has been a slight decline in most of these diseases with the exception of malaria. 

The proportion of the population with access to safe drinking water in 1996 was reported to be 59% (urban 61%, rural 59%).  The proportion of the population with adequate excreta disposal facilities is reported to be 23% (urban 74%, rural 18%).  Priority has been accorded to safe drinking water supply and sanitation during the past two decades.  The main constraints have been rapid urbanization, diminishing spring water sources due to deforestation, and pollution of surface water sources by industrial waste and sewer lines fed to rivers.

1.       http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html

2.       http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty/report/

3.       http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

4.       http://apps.fao.org/page/collections?subset=nutrition

5.       http://genderstats.worldbank.org

6.       http://www.undp.org/hdr2002/indicator

7.       http://w3.whosea.org/cntryhealth/nepal/index.htm

8.       Europa World Year Book 2001, 42^nd edition, 2^nd volume