Local wards must swing into action to destroy the female mosquito, responsible for spreading dengue
The rapid spread of dengue in the Kathmandu Valley and western Tarai belt is threatening to overwhelm Nepal's poor health infrastructure, with an acute shortage of paracetamol tablets being reported in the market. There is no drug for dengue cases, and paracetamol tablets are the only medicines prescribed by doctors to treat high fever as well as headaches.
Since January this year, more than 5,000 dengue cases have been reported in the country, with more than half of them reported in the Kathmandu Valley. Lalitpur leads the tally in the country followed by Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. However, with dengue now recorded in all the districts of the country, there are fears it could turn into an epidemic, just when the biggest festival of the Nepalis, Dashain, is around the corner. A dengue epidemic is the last thing this country wants at the moment, when COV- ID-19 is still infecting people on a daily basis. A cocktail of the two diseases could prove disastrous for the health of a patient.
This is not the first time Nepal has faced a shortage of paracetamol tablets in recent years. The country's pharmacies had run out of stock of the vital medicine during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. Pharmaceutical companies have given different reasons for the shortage this time around, namely that they had cut down on its production due to the high cost.
Since the pandemic and the Ukraine war, the cost of raw materials has risen, so has the labour and packaging costs, which, according to the pharmaceutical producers, makes it impossible to sell paracetamol tablets at Re 1 per tablet mandated by the government while it costs exactly double to produce one tablet.
According to the Association of Pharmaceutical Producers of Nepal, the country produces just 50 million paracetamol tablets annually, a 50 per cent cut. It has been urging the government to review the price of paracetamol tablets for the last six years. Barring Nepal Drugs Limited, all pharmaceutical companies in Nepal are in the private sector. Once known for its high quality paracetamol tablets, Nepal Drugs stayed shut for decades before it was revived more recently. However, it is unable to boost production to meet the national need. The government cannot remain a silent spectator to the acute shortage of a vital drug like paracetamol tablets in the market. After all, it is the only drug available in most of the health posts of Nepal.
Meanwhile, the local wards must swing into action to destroy the female Aedes aegypti mosquito, whose bite is responsible for the spread of dengue. Since the mosquito lays eggs in stagnant water collected in bottles, tyres, vases and ditches, the local representatives, health workers and the common people at large must take part in a campaign to destroy all such stagnant water in and around the households. Kathmandu Metropolitan City has started a house-tohouse awareness campaign in all 32 wards, and other districts are advised to do the same. Using a mosquito net or mosquito repellents or wearing longsleeved clothes will also prevent the mosquito from biting people. Also, since dengue involves a series of blood tests, the government must provide the facility at affordable prices if not outright for free.
Devise Yarsa policy
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and Marma Rural Municipality of Darchula district have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on conservation and processing of valuable Yarsagumba, an expensive Himalayan herb mostly traded in China and South-East Asia. As per the MoU, a centre for conservation and processing plant will be set up at Latinath of the rural municipality, located close to the Api Nampa Conservation Area. The private sector will also be roped into the conservation effort and processing of the valuable herb, believed to possess aphrodisiac property.
Yarsagumba is found on the southern slopes of the Himalayas from east to west, and tens of thousands of people flock to the areas to collect the rare herb, which is the main source of income of those living close to the mountains. However, the government has not undertaken any scientific study about it and its importance in medical field. A central level research centre should be set up to carry out scientific study of the caterpillar fungus, which is on the verge of becoming extinct due to its overexploitation. The government should formulate a national-level policy regarding its conservation through local participation and its use in the biomedical field.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 7, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
