Nepal to provide free cancer treatment for children under 14 in public hospitals

The Nepal government will provide cancer treatment to children under 14 free of cost in the designated public hospitals. As per the decision made by the Minister for Health and Population Pradip Paudel, the facility could be received from Kanti Children Hospital, Kathmandu; Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital, Bhaktapur; and BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Bharatpur, Chitwan.

According to the State’s News Agency RSS, this decision will be effective from November 16 this year and is expected to relieve the financial burden of the parents of cancer-suffering children. The Ministry’s Spokesperson shared that if the amount to be provided by the government for the



treatment is insufficient, the Ministry will make arrangements for additional funding from the Ministry’s internal sources.

According to the statistics of the Ministry’s Division of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, 71 per cent of deaths in Nepal are attributed to non-communicable diseases, with cancer accounting for 11 per cent of those deaths. The country recorded 22,000 new cancer patients in 2022. Among them, 14,000 died due to cancer, the statistics revealed. Every year around 1,500 children are diagnosed with cancer, according to the Ministry.