Upon endorsement of the National Health Insurance Policy in 2013, the Ministry of Health and Population formed the Social Health Security Development Committee in February 2015 as a legal framework to oversee Nepal’s health insurance programme and to ensure appropriate implementation of universal health care within three years.

What will be the biggest threat to Nepal’s economy in the next century? Will it be the threat of external aggression from a neighbouring country, the recurrence of an earthquake, or political upheaval? In my view, hypertension will be the biggest threat.

How can healthcare providers, especially doctors, find a common ground where trust, empathy, professionalism and care are valued tenets?