KATHMANDU: Former Health Minister Professor Dr. Mathura Prasad Shrestha passed away at the age of 88.

Family sources said that Shrestha passed away this morning at Annapurna Neuro Hospital in Maitighar during his treatment.

Shrestha, who is also working in the field of human rights, was suffering from asthma and chest infection for a long time.

In the government formed after the restoration of democracy in 1990, he was the Minister of Health on behalf of civil society.