At a time when the entire country has been reeling from the scourge of dengue virus and witnessing a fresh surge in Covid-19 cases, the Nepali Congress party on Saturday unveiled its election manifesto, pledging free healthcare services.

Interestingly, not a single word about communicable diseases—the ongoing dengue epidemic and surging coronavirus cases—was mentioned in the manifesto.

The ruling party also made several impractical promises, including lessening the death rate of non-communicable diseases to one-third.

“I don’t think any of the promises mentioned in the NC’s election manifesto will be implemented,” said Dr Baburam Marasini, former director at the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division. “This manifesto only talks about the result but keeps mum about the process. Even the ruling political party does not know how the promises mentioned in the election manifesto will be implemented.”

Among the pledges made in the manifesto, most are related to the Sustainable Development Goals, which Nepal has made an international commitment to meet.

As per the NC manifesto, the maternal mortality rate, which is 236 at present, will be lessened to 80 in every 100,000 live births over the next five years. Moreover, the party has made a commitment to lessen the burden of non-communicable diseases, which is 71 percent of total deaths at present, to one-third.

An average life expectancy of 71.45 years at present will be increased to 73 years, the NC manifesto said, without elaborating.

Experts say multiple factors, including access to health care, hygiene, diet, nutrition, exercise, lifestyle and crime rates, determine life expectancy, and the manifesto doesn't say many things about them.

“It is not necessary to mention the SDGs in the election manifesto of a political party because the state itself has already made the pledges and successive governments have been working on them,” said Dr Binjawala Shrestha, a public health expert. “Political parties should make commitments only on the doable things.”

The manifesto makes a lofty announcement to cover all the people under the government health insurance, which is only around 20 percent at present. The scheme covers the treatment of serious ailments of those insured.

Likewise, the party has committed to increasing the insurance amount to Rs1 million from the existing Rs100,000. However, the fact is many healthcare facilities have stopped providing free treatment under insurance programmes due to the government’s failure to reimburse the amount on time.

Treatment of children below three years and elderly people above the age of 73 will be provided free of cost, the manifesto says.

The government had decided to provide free treatment to children below three years in the past as well but the programme was not implemented. The incumbent government also declared free emergency services, but even the major hospitals, including Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, have not implemented the programme.

The NC manifesto also promises reducing the existing malnutrition rate, free insurance to all above 65 years, people with disabilities, single women, and women community health volunteers. Free sanitary pads to all women and filling all vacant posts at health institutions are among the other promises made by the party, if re-elected to power in the federal and provincial assembly elections due next month.

Most of the health experts the Post talked to criticised the authorities’ lackadaisical approach to contain the ongoing dengue epidemic. They said that many promises incorporated in the new manifesto have been copied from the manifestos of previous elections.

Moreover, they said, some of these promises are either already in the implementation phase or are impractical.

“I don’t think any of the programmes mentioned in the manifesto will be implemented and it is not only the NC that mentions impractical slogans in its manifesto. The other parties will do the same,” said Mahendra Shrestha, former chief specialist at the Health Ministry. “What has prevented the incumbent government led by the NC to fulfil vacant posts in the health sector?”