The Ministry of Health and Population launches a nationwide Vitamin A supplementation and deworming campaign twice a year. This year’s campaign targets a population of 2.2 million children between six months and 59 months. The target population has reportedly decreased drastically from the 3.2 million children eligible for the campaign one year ago. Public health experts say that while a decline in the number of children is understandable in view of the decreasing fertility rate, a plunge of one million a year is impossible.

For one, the mismatch in data between the national census and the one maintained by the ministry has revealed that governmental authorities do not even tally vital data. This episode of ‘missing’ children also exposes the practice of data manipulation, even in essential sectors such as health and education. And if the authorities have indeed been engineering demographic data, the question is: how many Nepalis are being excluded from essential services due to similar shenanigans?

This is not the first time people’s health has been compromised because of bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption. To take just an example, in 2021, the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines was delayed because of a combination of bureaucratic inefficiency, corruption involving middlemen and political mishandling. These issues meant Nepal struggled to secure enough doses during critical periods of the pandemic. So, in a way, this is a systemic concern.

In the most recent case, the discrepancy in data currently being used by the health ministry needs to be investigated thoroughly, and the fact of the matter, regarding data manipulation, must be established through investigation. If the data were indeed manipulated, those behind this practice must be punished, in this case for compromising the health of hundreds of thousands of children. Such a precedent will also set a strong deterrent.

Second, every time the health ministry runs a campaign for a target population, the data on such population must be tallied with the census data, and any mismatch promptly corrected. The data mismatch also highlights the need to establish a unified database for all essential sectors. It is not as if Nepal does not have a body to carry this out. The Central Bureau of Statistics, for instance, can be strengthened to maintain a central database for all sectors.

The state is considered the guardian of its citizenry. When governmental institutions act in a way that is detrimental to its citizens, the state becomes people’s foe. In fact, this was one reason the youths recently revolted, saying no to corruption and machinations of all kinds in state organs. So this would be the perfect time to shake up government institutions—make them more data-driven and more accountable.

When children are deprived of supplements through deliberate acts like the manipulation of population data, they risk being malnourished—or worse. If the state cannot act responsibly even in the most essential areas of health and education, it will have a hard time convincing people to believe in it, irrespective of the government system or people in place.