Maternal and Child Health

In response to the survey’s release, advocates are pushing for enhanced government action. While Nepal has ratified international conventions like the Convention on the Rights of the Child, implementation lags. Proposed measures include strengthening school retention programmes, providing scholarships for girls from poor families, and enforcing anti-child marriage laws more rigorously.

Humanitarian assistance has declined sharply amid global funding shortfalls, leaving millions more exposed.

Public health experts caution that while C-sections remain a life-saving intervention when medically necessary, their overuse undermines maternal and neonatal health outcomes.

Nepal faces international obligations under the Sustainable Development Goals to reduce stunting to 15 per cent, wasting to four per cent, and underweight rates to 10 per cent by 2030 – targets that appear increasingly challenging, particularly in remote and underserved regions like Sudurpaschim.

Health minister Sudha Gautam, a senior gynaecologist herself, is positioned to drive change. Experts urge her to prioritise regulation, monitoring, and awareness campaigns.

The holding centres often lack necessities like water and sanitation, and the people held there are lucky if they even receive two meals a day, as food stocks are often too low to supply enough meals. The need for blankets and winter kits is increasing.

Speaking at the launch, officials highlighted how PANKHUDI aligns with prime minister Narendra Modi's vision of leveraging technology as a bridge between the government and citizens.

Awareness messages on tuberculosis, reducing the digital divide, the PC&PNDT Act, 1994, and other key issues have been displayed both inside the coaches and on the exterior of the metro.