Patients with chronic illnesses in Salyan have been without free medicines for the past three months after the Karnali provincial government failed to supply essential drugs to government health facilities.

District Hospital, Salyan and health facilities across all local governments have run out of medicines for hypertension, diabetes and mental health conditions, as well as some family planning drugs that are normally distributed free of charge.

The shortage has forced hundreds of patients to purchase medicines from private pharmacies, placing an additional financial burden on families that rely on the government's free healthcare programme.

Prem Budha, 53, of ward 9 of Bangad Kupinde Municipality, who has diabetes and hypertension, said he now spends more than Rs1,000 a month on medicines that were previously available free of charge.

He said nearby pharmacies often do not stock the medicines he needs, forcing him to travel to Khalanga, the district headquarters, at a transport cost of Rs300 for a round trip, excluding food and other expenses.

A 45-year-old woman from ward 2 of Sharada Municipality, who has been receiving treatment for a mental health condition for six years, said she now has to buy her medicines from private pharmacies after repeatedly returning empty-handed from government health facilities.

She said the additional expense had made it difficult to continue treatment regularly and that she sometimes missed doses because she could not afford to buy the medicines on time.

Subash Hamal, chief of the health section at Kapurkot Rural Municipality, said all health facilities in the municipality had run out of medicines for diabetes, hypertension, mental health conditions and family planning. About 300 patients with chronic illnesses in the municipality have been affected, he said.

Yagya Bahadur Basnet, chief of the health section at Darma Rural Municipality, said delays in the supply of free medicines had become a recurring problem. He said health workers were left reassuring patients despite having no medicines to provide.

Arjun Budha Magar, chief of the Health Service Office in Salyan, said the provincial government had yet to deliver the 98 types of medicines designated for free distribution through public health facilities.

“As a result, medicines for hypertension, diabetes and mental health conditions have run out,” he said. “Patients have been forced to buy them from private pharmacies or the hospital pharmacy. We have repeatedly requested the provincial government to send the medicines.”

The Health Directorate under the Ministry of Social Development of Karnali Province attributed the delay to setbacks in the procurement process. It said the medicines are expected to be dispatched to the districts within the next two or three days.