The devastating human and financial toll of surging non-communicable diseases
Writing for Nepal’s leading digital news portal, Online Khabar, Pushparaj Chaulagain warns us of an epidemic: the sharp rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These are non-transmissible health conditions like diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease caused by air pollution, excessive alcohol and smoking, unhealthy diets, and a sedentary lifestyle. In low- to middle-income countries, the report says NCDs are now the leading cause of death.
Nearly 200,000 people die annually in Nepal as a result of NCDs, and eight out of the top 10 causes of death in the country fall into this category. The government has introduced a multi-sectoral action plan to address this, yet critics argue it leans heavily towards treatment rather than prevention. Health economist Ghanashyam Gautam puts it plainly: investing in prevention would be beneficial for both health and the economy. The root causes – shifting lifestyles, poor diet, physical inactivity – remain largely unaddressed.
Chaulagain illustrates the human cost through individual stories. The first is that of Hastimaya Limbu, a 55-year-old woman from Jhapa. After her husband disappeared, she was left solely responsible for her daughters and travelled to Oman for employment as a domestic worker. The conditions were gruelling; working from dawn until midnight, cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry, barely pausing even for water or bathroom breaks in the extreme heat. The relentless pace gradually wore her down – persistent back pain, vomiting, and loss of appetite followed. After collapsing, she was rushed to hospital, where she was told that both kidneys had failed entirely. She eventually underwent a successful transplant, but total treatment expenses reached 6 million NPR (£29,000 / $39,000), and she continues to spend 15,000 NPR (£70 / $100) on medication every month. “Now I have to depend on others just to survive,” she says.
Limbu’s story is far from unique. Rambahadu Tamang, a 52-year-old porter living alone in Kathmandu, supported his family on daily wages. With little time or inclination to cook, he relied on cheap market food – fried snacks, momos, chowmein, and samosas. “It was those habits that destroyed my kidneys,” he reflects. Years of fatigue and kidney swelling eventually culminated in organ failure. His son donated a kidney and the transplant operation was a medical success – but the financial toll was devastating. Although the government contributed 500,000 NPR (£2,400 / $3,200) towards costs, it fell well short of what was needed. “We had to sell our land and property to pay for treatment,” he told Online Khabar.
These are not isolated cases. Government data reveals the true scale of the problem: under the Deprived Citizens Medicine Treatment Programme, patient numbers and costs have both more than doubled over five years. For ordinary Nepalis forced into out-of-pocket expenditure, the burden is crushing. Over 500,000 citizens are pushed below the poverty line each year due to healthcare costs alone.
Experts are clear that around 80 per cent of NCD risk factors lie outside the health sector and are rooted in environmental pollution, pesticide use, and the food industry. Meaningful progress requires coordinated action across government, not just health services. Above all, prevention must begin early. Specialists agree that education about smoking, alcohol, and diet needs to start at school level, before harmful habits take hold. Without a decisive shift from disease treatment to prevention the epidemic looks set to deepen.
The original article ‘नसर्ने रोगको महामारी : उपचार खर्चले सडकमै पुग्छन् नागरिक’ by Pushparaj Chaulagain was first published in Nepali by Online Khabar on 31 March 2026.
It is available here.
Online Khabar is Nepal’s leading digital news portal, covering politics, health, business, and society. Its tagline is “No. 1 News Portal from Nepal”.
Summary by TMH