Lack of budget allocation has caused a shortage of medicines at District Hospital Humla, creating difficulties for patients. Local resident Dhandevi Sira shared that the hospital has been running short of medicines since May, forcing patients to return empty-handed. She said she had to leave without even receiving basic paracetamol when she took her two-year-old son to the hospital for a fever. She stated that the 108 types of medicines provided free of cost by the Government of Nepal are not available at District Hospital Humla. While local governments treat general illnesses through their health units, patients with more serious conditions visit the district hospital. However, due to the unavailability of medicines, they are compelled to return home empty-handed. As government and non-government employees, traders, entrepreneurs, and people from rural municipalities other than Simkot also reside in the district, they directly visit the district hospital for treatment. Other patients have complained that due to the lack of even basic medicines like paracetamol, ORS at the hospital, they are forced to buy them from private pharmacies.
Chairperson of the Hospital Management Committee, Dipak Bhandari, stated that despite repeatedly submitting request letters and urging concerned authorities to allocate a budget for medicine management at the Hospital, the issue has been neglected. According to him, the federal government passed the responsibility to the provincial government, while the province shifted it to the local government, avoiding accountability. Chairperson Bhandari said that the local government has responded by stating that, since they have their own health units, they manage medicines through those units and cannot allocate any budget to the district hospital.
Chief of the Health Service Office Humla, Umakanta Tiwari, stated that although the federal government allocated a budget of Rs 10,00,000 for the fiscal year 2024/2025, the amount is insufficient to sustain medicine supplies for more than three months.