KATHMANDU: Gagan Thapa, the General Secretary of the Nepali Congress, has criticized Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ for not understanding health as a fundamental right in practice.

Speaking at a free health camp organized on Saturday in Kathmandu, the NC General Secretary stated that despite health being declared a fundamental right in the Constitution, it has not been effectively implemented in practice.

He said, “While it’s easy to write in the constitution that health is a fundamental right, it’s equally challenging to ensure its implementation in practice.”

Thapa pointed out that due to the high cost of treatment people are deprived of their basic right to health and right to life and expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the concept of health insurance remains misunderstood.

He said, “Facts show that spending on treatment outside of poverty leads to becoming poor again. This is why we have advocated for health insurance. However, even the Prime Minister doesn’t seem to understand the concept of health insurance, let alone policymakers.”

During a program organized in collaboration with the Campaign for Change Nepal and the Asian Medical Students Association Nepal, Sabuj Baniya, the President of Kathmandu NC, emphasized the need to become more sensitive to health in the state.

Sushil Bhatta, a youth leader of Congress who led the health camp, criticized the state for misusing health rights, which were established by the constitution.