Nepal spends 1.1% of its GDPs on healthcare which is higher than India which spends meager 1.02 percent of its GDP less than low-income neighbors like Bhutan and Sri Lanka, and considerably less than most countries with significant universal health coverage (UHC) services.

Other South Asian countries Bhutan and Sri Lanka spend 2.5%, 1.6% of their GDPs on healthcare. In World Health Organisation’s South-East Asian Region, which includes 10 countries, India finishes second last, above only Bangladesh (0.4%), when their health expenditure is compared. Maldives spends 9.4% of its GDP to claim the top spot in the list, followed by Thailand (2.9%).

Shortage of doctors is still a problem, with one allopathic doctor for 11,082 people in the country’s villages, as per the report.

And if we further analyse this spending in the GDP, then most of it is from the private sector which contributes to more than 75% of the healthcare facilities in the country.