Primary healthcare

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.

Many households will meet minimum food needs only by depleting essential livelihood assets – a sharp deterioration compared with the previous year.

Sri Lanka faces a challenging road ahead: rebuilding damaged infrastructure, restoring health services, and ensuring clean water access are urgent priorities.

It demands not just emergency medical resources, but long-term planning – from urban infrastructure to water governance – to break the cycle of mosquito-borne disease.

If the push to convert the PTA into an FTA succeeds, both countries could significantly expand trade volumes – unlocking new opportunities.

As Nepal moves further into the post-monsoon season, the health sector faces a precarious balance. On one side are the improving weather conditions and fading monsoon rains; on the other, the remnants of mosquito-friendly conditions – standing water, warm afternoons, high humidity – that sustain dengue transmission.

In 2008, Nepal recorded 97 deaths; since then, annual fatalities have ranged between 6 and 32. But experts caution that the real numbers, especially in remote areas with limited surveillance, are likely higher.