Nepal facing medicine shortages due to fuel crisis, blockade

Shortages of life-saving medicines because of political protests in Nepal that have blocked key roads could lead to a crisis, as hospitals have started to cut services, doctors said Thursday.

Hospitals are rescheduling surgeries by weeks, and patients are finding it difficult to get to medical facilities due to fuel shortages, said Dr. Mukti Ram Shrestha of the Nepal Medical Association, the umbrellas body of doctors in the country.

“If the situation of shortages continues, patients could start dying after two weeks,” Shrestha said.

Truckloads of medicines have been blocked at the main border crossing with India for the last few months by Nepal’s Madhesi ethnic protesters, he said, adding that Indian authorities were also not allowing the shipments across even at points where there are no protests.

The traditionally marginalized Madhesis have been protesting Nepal’s new constitution, demanding to be given greater autonomy over local matters.

Talks between the protesters and the government have made little progress.

India, which has close cultural ties with the group, has restricted fuel and other exports to Nepal. Nepal imports about 60 percent of its medicines from India.

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