Until some two decades ago, thousands of children used to die of diarrheal infections. But when the government distributed Jeevanjal, an oral rehydration solution, free of cost and launched an awareness drive about the importance of handwashing, deaths from diarrheal infections almost stopped.

“Simple treatment prevents thousands of deaths,” said Dr Baburam Marasini, a public health expert. “Even small initiatives could bring massive changes in patients’ lives and help improve the country’s overall healthcare.”

The health minister appointed after the Gen Z uprising, however, has made no such initiative yet, experts say.

Multiple public health experts the Post talked to say that the performance of the incumbent Minister for Health and Population Dr Sudha Sharma Gautam does not veer away from that of the ministers of past governments.

Seventy-seven people were killed in the uprising, which caused unprecedented damage to public and private property in Nepal and forced out the KP Oli-led coalition government.

Like previous health ministers, Minister Gautam visited Bir Hospital and Narayani Hospital in Birgunj, as well as other state-run hospitals, and gave some instructions to the officials there. However, patients seeking care at those hospitals have not experienced any relief. They have to wait for an entire day to see a doctor for a minute in the outpatient department.

“Patients have to wait a week for an ultrasound and up to two weeks for CT scans or pay twice the price at private centres,” said Marasini. “When all these things are as they are, what is the meaning of the minister’s visit to the hospitals where patients continue to suffer. What of the new instructions?”

Minister Sharma recently unveiled the progress report of her two-month tenure. The report includes visits to state-run hospitals, including Kanti Children’s Hospital, Nepal Ayurveda Hospital and Research Centre, Lumbini Provincial Hospital, Bhim Hospital, Provincial Hospital Laboratory, and BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, among other hospitals, and some primary health care centres. Meetings with representatives of aid agencies and the World Health Organisation were also included in her progress report.

“Gautam has started a three-month-long mental health campaign, which is a good initiative,” said Dr Shyam Raj Upreti, former director general at the Department of Health Services. “But what we should not forget is that the federal government has not allocated a budget, and many local governments have not owned the programme.”

Many local units throughout the country say they are unaware of a three-month nationwide mental health awareness campaign launched by the health ministry.

Even officials from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City say they are unaware of the federal government’s campaign.

Some local-level staffers say they do not have the budget to run a three-month campaign, and without a budget, launching a campaign is simply impossible.

“In the bureaucratic circle, Minister Gautam is well known as an incompetent secretary, who did not do any significant work during her tenure as secretary,” said a former director general at the Department of Health Services, asking not to be named. “The government formed after the Gen-Z protest made Gautam the health minister, thinking that she is experienced, but her performance does not make her any different from past ministers.”

Experts say that Minister Gautam is well aware of the budget crunch in the healthcare sector, the direct impacts of aid cuts in several healthcare programmes, and the impacts on several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets.

“The ministry cannot even spend 60 percent of the total budget allocated for health,” said Dr Yasho Vardhan Pradhan, former director general at the Department of Health Services. “In the past, agencies under the Health Ministry were effective, and the ministry used to get credit for the impacts of works done by those agencies, but at present, every health department and division is in a mess, incapable of making any impact.”

Some officials say that incompetent people have been appointed to crucial departments and divisions after the minister Gautam assumed office.

“So many appointments and transfers have been made after the minister took up her responsibility,” an official at the ministry said, asking not to be named. “Responsibilities have been given to officials who do not have any experience in the relevant departments.”