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Nepal has improved its ranking from 144th to 143th position, although the Human Development Index (HDI) value has marginally declined from 0.604 to 0.602 due to continued turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said in a report. From the lens of gender, Nepal stands at 113th position in the global Gender Inequality Index. As per the report, the South Asian Countries in HDI Ranking is:  Afghanistan -180; Bangladesh-129; Bhutan -127; India-132; Maldives – 90; Nepal -143; Pakistan-161 and Sri Lanka -73. Released after a two-year gap on September 12, the 2022 Report puts the country in the Medium human development category. The HDI is a summary measure for assessing long- term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. Between 1990 and 2021, Nepal's HDI value changed from 0.399 to 0.602, a change of 50.9 percent. Between 1990 and 2021, Nepal's life expectancy at birth changed by 13.6 years, mean years of schooling changed by 2.8 years and expected years of schooling changed by 5.4 years. Nepal's GNI per capita changed by about 146.0 percent between 1990 and 2021, the UNDP said. The analysis shows Nepal’s continues to incur substantive loss in human development due to persisting inequalities. Nepal continued to a loss of over 25% in human development due to inequalities across gender, caste, geographic regions and other categories. As the inequality in a country increases, the loss in human development also increases. The 2021 female HDI value for Nepal is 0.584 in contrast with 0.621 for males, resulting in a GDI value of 0.942, placing it into Group 3 which comprises countries with medium equality in HDI achievements between women and men. Records show during 2019 and 2020, Nepal’s performance was comparatively low in the areas, including maternal mortality, shares of parliamentary seats held by women, and women’s participation in the labor force. The Gender Inequality Index measures gender inequalities (the loss in human development due to inequality between female and male achievements) in three key dimensions – reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market. Reproductive health is measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates; empowerment is measured by the shares of parliamentary seats held and population with at least some secondary education by each gender; and labor market participation is measured by the labor force participation rates for women and men. “The new Human Development Report indicates Nepal has largely maintained a stable position over the past two years despite numerous shocks, including COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters. This is because of the long investments over the years. Going forward, we need everyone’s wisdom, experience and more importantly the positive attitude to cope with the crisis and make more choices available to the people,” said Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labe, UNDP’s Resident Representative in Nepal. The report was presented by Dr. Swarnim Wagle, Chief Economic Advisor, UNDP Asia and the Pacific.

The Bardibas Hospital of Mahottari has received 17 dengue patients of late. It is the increasing trend since last month, the Hospital said. Bardibas, the northern belt of Mahottari district, is suffering from dengue threat. It has alone recorded dengue among 13 persons. The neighboring Aurahi Municipality, and Mithila Municipality from Dhanusha district have also reported one case each, according to medical superintendent Dr Krishna Maharjan. This data is of Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September) month alone. In the previous month, there were only two cases of dengue. The people from ward 1, 2, 3 and 8 of Bardibas Municipality have reached hospital for the treatment. They were tested positive for dengue. The Bardibas Hospital informed that all of them were referred to Kathmandu hospitals as they were in serious condition. In the last five years, Bardibas has been at high risk of dengue. Although only a few cases were reported in the previous years, 2074 BS witnessed a terrible record- 827 persons got dengue in three months of the year. Lately, the dengue case is reported on a daily basis. In view of the increasing cases of the disease, Bardibas Municipality has begun a sanitation campaign in the municipal area. Mayor Prahlad Chhetri informed that a 'search and destroy campaign' against mosquito larva along with spraying of insecticide was put in place, he added.

Senior orthopedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC has  begun a hunger strike in Dhangadhi. He started his hunger strike at the LN Chowk-based Krishna Temple in Dhangadhi, putting forth seven-point demands. Dr KC has demanded that the number of doctors in government hospitals should be increased based on the number of beds and half of the budget of the local level should be allocated to health and education among others. He said that he was compelled to stage the hunger strike after the government did not heed to his demands within the given time frame.    

Nepal reported 171 new Covid-19 cases and one death on Monday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 600 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 127 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 359 people underwent antigen tests, of which 52 were tested positive. As of today, there are 2, 271 active cases in the country.