<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181128/636be3369c7e80680e083eefjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1365" height="2048"/><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>Nepal is facing a rapidly spreading Covid-19 contagion somewhat similar to the surge of HIV/AIDS during the 2000 decade, and the country’s success in reducing the scourge has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/learning-from-hiv-to-fight-covid-19-in-nepal/">important lessons for fighting the current pandemic.</a>Given the epic dimensions of this emergency, there is a need for the kind of national unity and solidarity for concerted action that we saw 20 years ago to tackle the socio-economic challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.Just as with HIV, SARS-CoV-2 is having a severe impact on the most vulnerable communities. While one virus is air borne, and the other spreads through the exchange of bodily fluids, getting the message out on prevention and safety measures are important for both diseases.In addition, the current pandemic crisis threatens to undo a lot of the progress that Nepal has achieved in reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS from 0.3% of the adult population in 2007-8 to 0.13% today.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181128/636be3389c7e80680e083ef0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="336" height="338">Nepal’s AIDS response worked because of effective partnership with civil society which was crucial to find local solutions while we waited for the anti-retrovirals to become available. The free distribution of this therapy also set an important precedent for Covid-19 in providing Nepalis with access to vaccines and treatments when they are ready.As in HIV/AIDS, Covid-19 response should place affected communities at the centre. More importantly, it should be a rights-based approach grounded on equity and justice. These lessons from the HIV response provide critical insights for governments and development partners to build resilient health system which will be as effective, accountable and inclusive.The first HIV case in Nepal was diagnosed in 1988. After this, the epidemic evolved from <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/ending-AIDS-in-Nepal,2707">low prevalence to a concentrated epidemic</a>. Key populations such as sex workers, injecting drug users, migrants, prisoners, transgender people, and gay men and other men who have sex with men are at high risk of acquiring HIV infection. <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19020#.X79BKWUzaUk">Discrimination and social exclusion</a>makes them more vulnerable.Despite global progress, millions of people around the world are still at risk of contracting <a href="http://www.unfpa.org/hiv-aids">HIV infection</a>, and AIDS remains a leading cause of death among women of reproductive age and young adolescents.Nepal has made remarkable progress in its HIV response over the past decades. According to National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC), an estimated 29,503 people are currently living with HIV in the country. Despite the reduction in the prevalence rate, much more needs to be done.In order to further reduce the incidence of HIV infection among key populations, a range of development partners and civil society organisations are reaching out to key populations with prevention, treatment and care services across the country. Community-based HIV interventions are largely guided by National HIV Strategic Plan (2016-2021) that focuses on scaling up innovative prevention services to young key populations.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181128/636be33a9c7e80680e083ef1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="928">Despite impressive progress, HIV still continues to be a public health challenge because services are still limited in remote districts. People living with HIV still do not have easy access to treatment and care in health facilities.There is a need to reduce disparities in access to treatment and care by addressing human rights, gender-based violence, stigma and discrimination which continue to hinder access to HIV services for key populations. TheUnited Nations General Assembly adopted the 2016 Political Declaration on a fast-track to end AIDS epidemic by 2030. This requires an accelerated expansion of comprehensive HIV services across the country.The global 90–90–90 targets aim for 90% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90% of people who know their status receiving treatment, and 90% of people on HIV treatment having a suppressed viral load.However, there are significant gaps in Nepal to access treatment services that need robust health sector response. And those targets can only be met with strong political commitment, community engagement and resilient health system. And on top of this challenge, we now have the public health crisis caused by Covid-19.Both epidemics require a sustained multi-sector response to mitigate its adverse socio-economic impacts on individuals, families and communities. Meaningful engagement of people living with HIV and evidence-based actions can significantly reduce the burden of HIV in developing countries.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181128/636be33c9c7e80680e083ef2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1250" height="834"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The role of civil society networks and media has been instrumental in spreading awareness, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/stigma-ostracisation-for-HIV-patients-remain-in-western-nepal,1724">reducing stigma and ostracisation</a>, and they have shown it is possible to break the silence that surrounds HIV, and practice safe behavior.Over the years, national networks of people living with HIV and other key populations are playing critical role to empower poor and vulnerable populations in accessing essential health services. In Nepal’s remote communities, they have been delivering antiretroviral medicines to the homes of people living with HIV during the coronavirus pandemic.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181128/636be33e9c7e80680e083ef3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="692" height="460">Community ownership is cornerstone of the civil society response which is why strengthening civil society response is crucial to reaching out the people living with HIV and other marginalised communities for the services they need. It is also equally important to enhance social accountability of local governments in order to ensure sustained provision of comprehensive HIV services in the communities.Political commitment for universal health coverage is therefore crucial to ensure no one is left behind and the rights of key populations are protected. This is instrumental in enabling legal, social and institutional environments for Nepal to reduce the prevalence rate even further.On <a href="https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2020/unaids-data">World AIDS Day on 1 December</a>, we also have to remember that gender inequality and HIV risks are inextricably linked. Adolescent girls and young women face particular challenges that can leave them at high risk of unwanted pregnancy, violence and HIV.Many are still unable to access the sexual and reproductive health services they need. Sexual and gender minorities face even more difficulty in accessing health and other social protection services.Jhabindra Bhandari, a senior doctoral research fellow in global health, is presently national consultant with <a href="https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2020/unaids-data">UNAIDS</a>.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181128/636be3409c7e80680e083ef4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="138" height="150">

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A tale of two viruses

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba6a99c7e80680e073737jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1365" height="2048"/><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>When Lalbahadur Shah of Birganj died last week, none of his relatives showed up for his funeral even though he tested negative for Covid-19. With no family, friends and neighbours attending, the Muslim community members took it upon themselves to perform his final rites as per the Hindu faith.Shah had hypertension and diabetes, although he had tested positive for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/dont-take-covid-19-lightly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SARS-CoV-2</a>, he had recovered from the infection. He succumbed to other health complications.Across Nepal, people infected with the virus, even those who have recovered, have been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/covid-19-sharpens-caste-discrimination-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">shunned by neighbours and society</a>. Migrant returnees and their families have been singled out and humiliated. Doctors and health workers have been harassed by landlords.This is nothing new in Nepal. Tuberculosis and leprosy patients have been traditionally shunned. And the stigma associated with Covid-19 is very reminiscent of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/stigma-ostracisation-for-HIV-patients-remain-in-western-nepal,1724" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">how people with HIV/AIDS used to be treated in Nepal</a> in the past, and may have lessons for dealing with SARS-CoV-2, since the virus (like HIV) is here to stay.“Physical distancing doesn’t mean discrimination and we should make people understand this,” says public health expert Aruna Uprety. “There is widespread panic about Covid-19 and this is turning people against those infected with it, exactly like it was with HIV/AIDS. This in turn is adding to the mental stress of the patients, undermining their recovery.”Says Anjana Rajbhandary, a counsellor and columnist: "Social stigma is attached to lack of knowledge and when people know less, they feel the need to blame someone else because they are afraid of the unknown. Fear and anxiety about death and disease can lead to gossip, which results in stereotyping and discrimination."Constant focus in the mass media on new infections and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-covid-19-deaths-cross-100/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fatalities</a> over those who have recovered has reinforced the misconception that Covid-19 is highly lethal, adding to the fear about it.On Tuesday, Nepal reported a total of 1,016 new cases, its highest daily rise with 205 in Kathmandu Valley alone, forcing the local governments in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-valley-back-to-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to reimpose lockdown for a week</a> starting Wednesday midnight. So far, 17,580 people have recovered while 114 have passed away.The number of new infections was down to 671 on Wednesday, 151 of them in Kathmandu Valley.The similarities between HIV/AIDS and Covid-19 goes beyond <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stigma</a>. Just like HIV/AIDS  spread like wildfire in western Nepal among families with husbands working in India, most of the Covid-19 cases were imported from India and spread among the poorest sections of Nepal’s most underserved region. And just like with HIV, Covid-19 is felling people with compromised immune systems.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba6ad9c7e80680e073738jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="400"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba6ae9c7e80680e073739jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="400"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Long-time HIV/AIDS activist Rajiv Kafle also sees parallels between the current Covid-19 crisis and the HIV epidemic of the 1990s in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/ending-AIDS-in-Nepal,2707" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">turning public awareness into behavioural change for prevention</a>  Both diseases are caused by viral infections and attack the immune-compromised – only the method of transmission is different. While HIV is spread through unprotected sex, sharing needles or blood transfusions, SARS-CoV-2 spreads human-to-human through aerosol particles.“As with HIV, I see a lot of denial about coronavirus. Back in the day, peer-pressure led people to partake in highly risky behaviour like sharing syringes. Peer-pressure today can be seen in the form of people pulling down their masks in presence of friends,” says Kafle.Mass media was a crucial tool in the battle against HIV/AIDS in the days before social media. In particular, tv serials and docudramas featuring popular faces like comedian duo Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansa Acharya were highly effective in creating awareness about preventive measures such as safe sex and clean needles as well as in lessening the stigma for some 50,000 people living with HIV in Nepal.Nearly 30 years later, Shrestha and Acharya are once more doing skits for public service announcements via social media and tv to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lockdown-may-be-over-but-pandemic-is-not/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spread awareness about Covid-19 preventive measures</a>. The message is similar: while it was condoms and safe needles for HIV/AIDs, it is masks and distancing for Covid-19.“If we were able to change peoples’ behaviour in something as sensitive as sex, then we should be able to do it much more effectively for Covid-19,” says Rita Thapa of Nepal Public Health Foundation, who was formerly with the WHO. “We still have time to work together with local authorities, civil society and the government to run mass awareness campaign that reaches down to the grassroots.”Since this August, the government has started providing free TLD (once-a-day generic fixed-dose combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine, and dolutegravir), new antiretroviral drug considered the best regimen in the world for 17,000 people living with HIV in Nepal. Activists like Kafle credit this milestone to treatment literacy, community mobilisation and continued activism.“Only a similar kind of dedication will guarantee accountability and transparency in terms of testing and treating coronavirus in Nepal when the vaccine and therapies aren’t available,” he adds.Aruna Uprety recalls a recent field visit to Makwanpur district where she found Chepang nomads living without toilets or clean drinking water, who were not <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/prevention-while-searching-for-a-cure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wearing masks</a> and maintaining distance.“It is now pretty clear we will have to learn to live with Covid-19 just as we did with HIV. What would help is strengthening our immune system to fight against the infection, be it by applying traditional medicinal or by eating nutritious indigenous food,” says Uprety. “But to prevent infection for now our first line of defence are masks, distancing and hand-washing.”

Sonia Awale

Learning from HIV to fight Covid-19 in Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121116/636b8c4d9c7e80680e06b2efjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4096" height="2730"/><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>With no proven <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/what-is-novel-about-the-novel-coronavirus/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/what-is-novel-about-the-novel-coronavirus/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587612692665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFhARSUb8HMQP_ZJgsaTmPoQDLWvA">cure or vaccine available yet for COVID-19</a>, various treatments with no proven benefits and potential deadly side-effects are being tried out on patients.One example of a desperate treatment measure is a New York City doctor carelessly declaring on primetime tv recently that COVID-19 pneumonia was similar to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/high-alert/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/high-alert/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587612692665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGuDq-Ti_uWGlw-rY-q1PpyQQO54g">high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE)</a>, and he recommended high altitude drugs like Diamox for the treatment of Covid-19.Trekkers in Nepal are familiar with <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19693#.Xp-oJy8w0Wo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D19693%23.Xp-oJy8w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587612692665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGSLnJg3LMR2gIcZz9LMdKOvruqJA">Diamox</a>, a pill they take to acclimatise better when hiking at higher altitudes. There is no scientific basis that the drug will work, but this idea of very low oxygen (hypoxia) and pneumonia in both afflictions was appealing.To counter this some of us in Nepal and other countries have a forthcoming Opinion in the British Medical Journalcautioning against this rash treatment strategy using high altitude medicines. In medicine, doctors have to remember the maxim, Primum non nocere (‘above all do no harm’).But there are some silver linings <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-must-hope-for-the-best-prepare-for-the-worst/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-must-hope-for-the-best-prepare-for-the-worst/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587612692665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGtTkAInA3D5xIkzd65kTSfDvYESg">if Nepal escapes the worst of COVID-19</a>. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tb/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tb/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587612692665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGbOqrkOzN3uP_va7u0F-uhlxipaQ">Tuberculosis</a> rates, which are very high in South Asia (more than 400 per 100,000) could go down if people continue to use the masks since it will also mean that a tuberculosis patient will not spread the bacteria, not to mention other respiratory infections.Similarly, as more people get into the habit of washing hands with soap and water where available, the rates of diseases like typhoid and hepatitis A and E, caused by fecal oral transmission, will certainly be reduced.An average of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-deadly-roads-take-their-toll/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-deadly-roads-take-their-toll/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587612692665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHn0HGje-Tq3pDeekYbQAbhZxJOwg">230 people used to be killed every month</a> on Nepal’s highways and streets. The lockdown has now lasted a month, and that is approximately the number of lives saved due to vehicles being off the roads.The importance of public health for both the rich and poor countries has been highlighted by the pandemic. Industrialised countries had thought they had been done with infectious diseases, except perhaps the odd HIV patient. This pandemic has given great pause to that argument. Developing countries which having tried to come to grips with pre-existing epidemics have used lessons learnt in dealing with coronavirus in prevention.The Indian state of Kerala for example, has done relatively better in dealing with COVID-19 partly because it utilised prior lessons from the Nipah outbreak a year ago. Other South Asian countries with robust public health infrastructure like Sri Lanka also have a better handle on the disease.They strengthened their public health system, and it has paid rich dividends. South Korea too had an outbreak of MERS Coronavirus in 2015 which was brought by a South Korean returning from Kuwait, but they were able to effectively control the spread, and have been dealing successfully (so far) with the novel coronavirus. Singapore had been doing well, but discovered last week that it had a blind spot in the migrant workers’ dormitories. It has now announced a ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown till 1 June.South Asian countries have had more time in preparing for the contagion, while they wait for a vaccine or drugs to treat COVID-19. Treatment trials are happening all over the world even as the patients and doctors await with bated breath (pardon the pun). In all likelihood, we will soon know if chloroquin works or not before we have a vaccine.Vaccines will be a game-changer against Covid-19, and competition is heating up because whoever makes this vaccine first will be the knight-in-shining armour. China, USA, UK are probably a few of the countries engaged in developing a vaccine, and among them are researchers at Oxford University Clinical Research Unit who <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-shot-in-the-arm-for-vaccines-in-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-shot-in-the-arm-for-vaccines-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587612692665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHKJgZ_d-vQIhZ5sdehQmMT7iWvHQ">collaborated closely with Patan Academy of Health Science</a> in a recent successful typhoid vaccine study.This Oxford University group lead by Professors Sarah Gilbert and Andrew Pollard are optimistic about producing a million doses of the vaccine by autumn. The vaccine will be eventually required not in the millions, but in billions of dosages. It also has to be affordable for countries like ours.For making vaccines promptly for neglected tropical illnesses, it is hard to beat the Chinese. When <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19220#.Xp-nMS8w0Wo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D19220%23.Xp-nMS8w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587612692665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEw-YGKhD3XomMEP736r5ileoWJ3g">Japanese Encephalitis (JE)</a> was raging in China and South Asia, it was the Chinese who tested, developed and made available the ‘Chengdu vaccine’ that revolutionised the prevention of the mosquito-borne disease. The earlier vaccine was expensive and only tourists in Nepal could afford it.Similarly, when <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18079#.Xp-m3S8w0Wo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18079%23.Xp-m3S8w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587612692665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEndZvjwlu6D0uMBXFMGO9OgvSoXg">hepatitis E</a> was a scourge in China, the Xiamen Innovax Biotech came up with a vaccine in 2012 to protect vulnerable populations. Because there is no other commercial vaccine available against hepatitis E, it will be valuable in South Asia if the virus is rampant again and affect pregnant women with a fatal outcome.Nepal clearly needs to have a strong public health infrastructure in collaboration with a prestigious institute abroad to be able to tackle COVID-19 and other infections. Just like earthquakes, there will be more pandemics in future. Humanity needs to up its game in the control of emergent infectious diseases, and Nepal can make a small contribution by helping itself, especially by strengthening public health.Buddha Basnyat is a clinical researcher at Patan Academy of Health Sciences and a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/what-is-novel-about-the-novel-coronavirus/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/what-is-novel-about-the-novel-coronavirus/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1587612692665000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFhARSUb8HMQP_ZJgsaTmPoQDLWvA">frequent health columnist</a> for Nepali Times.Prevention while searching for a cur

Buddha Basnyat

Prevention while searching for a cure

At the stroke of the midnight hour, it finally came to something everyone in Nepal’s oldest and biggest party had been dreading — a split.
Not that this was anything new. The Nepali Congress (NC) had splintered twice before and the main protagonist both times was five-time prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. After the GenZ uprising and being physically mauled and his house looted and set on fire on 9 September Deuba had said he was stepping aside, but it seems old ambitions die hard.
The showdown between the Gagan Thapa-Bishow Prakash Sharma camp and Deuba came to a head on Wednesday as the establishment leadership decided to suspend Thapa, Sharma, and Farmullah Mansoor for five years to punish them for daring to challenge the leadership and hold a special general convention.&nbsp;
Bhrikuti Mandap in the centre of Kathmandu is the venue for trade exhibitions, but this week it was where an exhibition of everything that is wrong with Nepali politics was on full display — lack of internal party democracy and an unaccountable gerontocracy clinging on to power.&nbsp;
Thapa and Sharma had gathered the support of 62% of the NC membership at their convention and chose Gagan Thapa as the new party leader and proposed him as a prime ministerial candidate after the 5 March election.
Deuba’s allies had refused to attend or endorse the special general convention, and were adamant about holding a general convention to choose a new party head after the election. Thapa, Sharma and their supporters argued that the party faced ignominious defeat in the polls if Deuba insisted on being prime minister again.
The events of September 2025 have cast a long shadow over Nepali politics, with many new parties and alliances pledging to represent the aspirations of the GenZ movement. However, that realisation does not seem to have dawned on the tried, tested and failed leadership of the NC, UML and the NCP where the party leaders have held on to power by sidelining all rivals. &nbsp;
Thapa and Sharma were NC general secretaries held multiple rounds of discussions to convince Deuba to accept their eight-point demand that for the party’s and the country’s sake his time was up, and he should cut and cut cleanly. Despite having already handed over the party leadership to Purna Bahadur Khadka in September, Deuba refused to step down.&nbsp;
‘What demands has the Nepali Congress been unable to reconcile that it is headed for a split? There is no ideological dispute, just a proposal to make it easier to go for the election,’ noted journalist and author Narayan Wagle. ‘If those who have been in politics for so many years cannot reach an agreement, what have they learned in life and what hope is there for the country?’
Gagan Thapa was elected unopposed as the new party president on Thursday midnight, with Sharma and Pushpa Bhusal appointed vice-presidents. Thapa has said backroom talks are still ongoing though mediators, but for all intents and purposes the split seems irreconcilable.&nbsp;
The million dollar question now is: who gets to be the real Nepali Congress? Who gets the NC’s tree election symbol at the polls?
Both the Thapa and Deuba factions have written to the Election Commission (EC) laying claim to the party and its symbol. Whatever the EC decides, with less than two months to go for the polls, the dispute over its legitimacy will almost certainly have to be decided in the courts.
Deuba and his counterpart K P Oli in the UML have been unwilling or unable to fathom the level of outrage that young Nepalis feel about their parties. They have shown an inability to heed the call for institutional overhaul within parties and in Nepal’s political culture post-September. Second generation leaders within those parties who have grown old waiting for reform, seem to have better internalised the need for internal restructuring.&nbsp;
Oli has managed to hold on to power after displaying increasing authoritarianism within his UML, while Deuba has shown an unwillingness to bow out of leadership with grace. Both have squandered away their legacy.
For Gagan Thapa, the events of Thursday was a culmination of his long-standing claim for leadership change within the NC coupled with a compulsion to address the demands of the youth movement to maximise gains for his party this election. Just like Deuba, Thapa’s house was also looted and torched during the September protests.
Thapa told Onlinekhabar on Thursday: “Our belief was that we cannot go into elections under the present circumstances under [Sher Bahadur Deuba’s] leadership and with him as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. We would lose.”
The special general convention has taken further steps for reform, endorsing amendments to the party statue, which has set term limits for key leadership positions, including a one-term limit for party president, two-term limit for prime minister, three for a ministerial position, and four terms for a directly elected member of Parliament. Meanwhile, party members are only allowed to become lawmakers through the Proportional Representation system for one term.&nbsp;
If Thapa’s leadership holds legitimacy, this new chapter for the NC might come as a welcome change to young Nepalis who have been calling for leadership overhaul and internal party reforms within the establishment parties. But it may also come at the cost of the NC’s core base. It remains to be seen which side tips the scale at the polls.&nbsp;
The NC’s infighting and institutional shake-up has also posed fresh concerns about how it will affect the election schedule just as it looked as though all the mainstream political parties were finally on board and preparing for the polls. With voting barely weeks away, Nepal’s political parties are still too busy cleaning up their own house to give too much time to work on their platforms, agendas and serious campaigning
Historically, political break-ups and make-ups in Nepal are not set in stone. Even the newest alliance between Rabi Lamichhane’s RSP and Kulman Ghising’s UNP did not even last 12 days. &nbsp;Balen Shah is set to resign from his mayor position in the next and has gotten into the thick of election preparation with the RSP. His next step will be to choose which constituency he is going to contest from.
Meanwhile, in the light of a new day, the two NC factions may still decide that breaking up is hard to do when they are so close to elections, and the political stakes are so high.&nbsp;

Grand split in Nepal’s grand old party

The India Art Fair (IAF) advertises itself as ‘the biggest event in India’s cultural calendar … a leading platform’ for art collectors who can discover modern and contemporary art from South Asia.&nbsp; For this year’s ticketed event on 5-8 February in New Delhi, more than 133 exhibitors from 14 countries will be representing top artists from their networks. Danfe Arts, a touring art space from Kathmandu, will participate in the Galleries Section of IAF’s 17th edition featuring a booth with works by six Nepali artists.&nbsp; One of them is Sanjeep Maharjan, Assistant Professor for Sculpture at Kathmandu University, who will showcase his claywork as part of Danfe Arts’ entourage. In 2024, Maharjan curated a show for Danfe Arts at Takpa Gallery titled, ‘Unfolding the City’. The IAF prefers to showcase skilled artists who have honed their practice over many years. Much like various biennales and residencies that have been popping up increasingly in Asia, the Fair delves into sociopolitical issues of the region such as many comissioned works including <a href="https://indiaartfair.in/exhibitor/yogesh-barve-supported-by-art-charlie" target="_blank">Yogesh Barve</a>’s installation entitled ‘I am not your Dalit’ featured at the feastival last year.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260115110136_13f262546fca46c0fe4d76f758a694afe7c0c1cfee5bf74eb4f257f78734f8f2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260115110136_13f262546fca46c0fe4d76f758a694afe7c0c1cfee5bf74eb4f257f78734f8f2" data-rendition-name="original" width="989" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Nepali artists at India Art Fair"> <figcaption>Anil Shahi's Hand of Hope, Oil on Canvas, 36 x 60 inches. Exhibiting work at IAF.</figcaption> </figure>  As the name implies, it is a grand bazaar where artists and their agents show up, to be seen — a powerful regional platform where creativity merges with commercial interests. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Artists have a reputation for being weak at business.&nbsp; And in Kathmandu, where the contemporary art scene has been steadily expanding since the early aughts, more and more creatives are seeking platforms like IAF and collaborators like Danfe Arts in order to boost their portfolios. A NEW COURSE In 2022, I was invited to participate in a formal group discussion by founder of and curator at Danfe Arts Shivangi Bansal who was preparing to chart a new course with her Danfe Journal. The journal included photos of artworks as well as writings about art and helped bridge the gap between art and the Nepali public’s understanding of associated processes. Contemporary art and literature is considered a niche activity. Proper marketing and outreach is required to make the product accessible to the average consumer. Besides, consistency can also be an issue. Too often, energetic graduates might register organisations and launch initiatives only to burn out within a year or so. Nepali society would benefit more from a sustained effort with a long-term vision rather than trendy initiatives that look bright and shiny. Danfe Arts discontinued the journal but continued to engage with Nepal’s art community, like facilitating a commission for Mini Tamang by the India Art Fair (IAF) in 2025, as part of IAF’s Young Collector’s Program. Tamang’s artwork, ‘Evocative Waves’, was installed at New Delhi’s Stir Art gallery last year. In 2024, Danfe Arts had organised a group exhibition called ‘A Lake That Once Was’ in New Delhi’s Bikaner House to coincide with the India Art Fair, which listed the exhibition as part of its parallel programs. This meant the Nepali artists received more visibility and value among IAF’s much larger audience.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011804014_2a15d57a63c375503965a41396b22c006152368a018450d2617f4c8c076ccc74.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2026011804014_2a15d57a63c375503965a41396b22c006152368a018450d2617f4c8c076ccc74" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="998" loading="lazy" alt="arts"> <figcaption>A Lake That Once Was, 2024 at Bikaner House, Delhi.</figcaption> </figure>  Since its inception, Danfe Arts has put out an eclectic mix of programs, demonstrating innovative thinking and effort. With its multi-platform approach, Danfe Arts has collaborated with restaurants like Mezze, putting up an exhibition in November 2025, ‘Bhoye - The Feast’. Danfe Arts is also cultivating relationships with specific artists based on synergies and sensibilities.&nbsp; The history of art practice in Nepal is long and illustrious, but due to political and geographical constraints, esteemed artists have been sheltered and confined within our national borders.&nbsp; By featuring these six artists for the 2026 edition of IAF, Danfe Arts is helping them make regional connections. And as our artists and gallerists show up on global platforms, they might in turn compel Nepalis to view more critically the value of art and how creative practices can contribute positively to society. As technology takes over and AI bots spam the Internet, the issue of originality might become tantamount to survival. We should take risks in our professional pursuits in order to design new communal models of exchange. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; India Art Fair New Delhi 5-8 February&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011804014_f226a31af8a33f8da5e7359886289de3fd1b2db17697b96b909404e582d75124.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2026011804014_f226a31af8a33f8da5e7359886289de3fd1b2db17697b96b909404e582d75124" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1875" loading="lazy" alt="arts"> </figure>

Nepali artists at India Art Fair

The series <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/looking-good-by-doing-good">Nepal Made</a> profiles world-class Nepali products and the people behind them. Deepak Acharya was born and raised in Simara, before his uncle took him to Pokhara when he was only in sixth grade. After class, he helped sell jackets and outdoor gear at his uncle's Lakeside store. &nbsp; Twenty-two years later, &nbsp;Acharya is still selling jackets. Not international brands like he used to, but products of his own outdoor gear company, DOLPO.&nbsp; Acharya and his brother-in-law, Krishna Ammai, started making and selling jackets and gear for international companies out of Thamel. After losing his business partner in the 2015 earthquake, he was done selling imported items. He launched his own line of outerwear, named after Nepal’s rugged and remote district, known for its stunning arid landscape. The careful selection of the name DOLPO paid off. It took off, providing a high-quality, affordable Nepal-made alternative to foreign companies.&nbsp; “A lot of work went into choosing the name Dolpo,” says Acharya, who considered what came into people’s minds when they heard the name of a place with double-O sound. “I wanted a brand that local customers would instantly relate to toughness and mountains.” The elegant logo reflects this as well, made up of two overlapping rounded triangles denoting mountains with a third peak in the middle. Underneath is ‘DOLPO’ in upper case sans serif.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260116120148_968d9354094049265372d851d0e44e16ae4fc86b5631481e365e6e977f13d37d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260116120148_968d9354094049265372d851d0e44e16ae4fc86b5631481e365e6e977f13d37d" data-rendition-name="original" width="854" height="1280" loading="lazy" alt="Dolpo NT"> <figcaption>Photo: DOLPO</figcaption> </figure>  RIGHT QUALITY, RIGHT PRICE “Our philosophy is Right quality, Right price,” says co-founder Deepak Acharya, adding with a smile that the pricing strategy of a particular competitor has made business easy: “The employees at North Face may sell North Face, but they wear Dolpo.” The rebranding was so successful that Acharya regrets not launching it sooner. The reason for the success is that the outdoor gear market in Nepal has taken off with more and more domestic tourists trekking in the high mountains to share their adventures on social media.&nbsp; Nepalis seem to be consciously choosing sustainable, Nepal made products of international quality. Acharya says: “Of course, there will always be a demographic that only wears North Face, or Sonam. But we have the right design, right price philosophy.”&nbsp; DOLPO uses fabric and material mainly from Japan, and adheres to strict quality control. The reversible down jackets, windcheaters, shorts, fleece-lined pants, trekking trousers, backpacks, and polo shirts can be bought through its website, or two exclusive flagship stores in Sorakhutte and Thamel Chok. “After the rebrand, we slowly made a digital platform, marketed online, and worked with a delivery company to get items directly to buyers,” says Acharya. “We have no brokers or middlemen to keep prices low for the consumer.” DOLPO is a family business with Acharya’s mother and sister also involved, and nephew Nishant Ammai driving digital sales. Acharya points out that there is a lot of business opportunity in Nepal, as there are too many low-quality products being sold at too high a price. &nbsp;“The market is begging for an auto-correction,” he says. For Nepal’s pessimistic youth who are fleeing the country, Acharya urges patience: “The younger generation wants shortcuts. The mindset is to set up a venture and in three years they will be set for life. But this is not how success works.” “Choose a field, put in ten years of effort, really learn about it, and then you will see the vast possibility present in Nepal,” he continues.&nbsp; Last month, the DOLPO logo was seen on the jerseys of the Biratnagar Kings in NPL 2. The company made hats, jackets, and jerseys for star-studded cricket players including Lokesh Bam, Sandeep Lamichhane, Faf Du Plessis, and Martin Guptill. The Kings finished second in the group, and although Acharya is a football fan, he is happy to contribute to the rise of cricket in Nepal. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Proud to wear DOLPO

Only a handful of people who witnessed the 1934 megaquake as children are still alive. And the memories of 2015 are fading fast.&nbsp;
We were shaken, but have not stirred into action. We have not even started preparing to be prepared for the inevitable, for it is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.&nbsp;
Thursday 15 January was National Earthquake Safety Day commemorating the 1934 disaster that killed 10,000 people in Kathmandu Valley at a time when its population was barely 100,000.
Nepal is in an active seismic zone, and a really big one is overdue in the seismic gap in western Nepal where there has not been a megaquake for 500 years. The 7.8M quake in 2015 did not completely release the tectonic stress below Central Nepal.
An 8M+ earthquake epicentred in western Nepal will be even more violent than the 2015 one in Kathmandu and will be powerful enough to cause destruction across northern India as well.&nbsp;
We Nepalis are resilient, but we are also complacent and fatalistic. How else does one explain the unsafe and unplanned building construction in Kathmandu, Pokhara and other towns despite frequent reminders of what quakes can do?&nbsp;
Most designs are ad hoc and follow no engineering logic. Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) is now widespread across the country since such structures mostly withstood the 2015 event. But structural engineers say most concrete buildings are substandard, and can be death traps. Also, the country lacks equipment and training for search and rescue in cement houses.&nbsp;
FIRE HAZARD
If an earthquake struck Kathmandu on a windy winter evening, there is the added risk of fires from gas cylinders in collapsed buildings spreading across the densely packed city core. Fire trucks will not be able to reach those areas because the streets will be blocked.
Seismic risk is now amplified by climate breakdown. Nepal now needs to factor in the co-hazard of massive avalanches and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) triggered by future earthquakes. There are 41 potentially dangerous glacial lakes in the region, and 27 of them are in Tibet feeding rivers that flow into Nepal. A megaquake there could cause multiple simultaneous GLOFs.&nbsp;
If the 2015 earthquake had not happened on a Saturday, tens of thousands of children could have been killed in the 7,000 schools that were flattened. More than 2,500 government buildings came down, and would have killed and trapped many if it had not been a weekend.
Schools and health facilities retrofitted before the disaster were unscathed, and served as shelters for survivors. Chhatrapati Free Clinic (CFC) was reinforced three years before the earthquake for Rs5.2 million, and with support from National Society of Earthquake Technology (NSET), 800 community members were trained in search and rescue.
Bhuwaneswori Secondary School in Bhaktapur and Bal Bikas Secondary School in Kathmandu both survived 2015 because they had been retrofitted. Singha Darbar, the Supreme Court and the Department of Roads buildings were also made seismic resistant after 2015 quake, but the arson attacks on 9 September gutted them.
While many private residential homes built after 2015 continue to flout building codes, municipalities are now stricter. New schools and colleges, hospitals and high rises now have to meet stringent requirements for seismic resistance.
Nepal is a hotspot for many types of disasters — earthquakes, floods, droughts, glacial outbursts, wildfires. These are not ‘natural’ disasters, they are human induced. Earthquakes do not kill people, poorly-built buildings do. Climate breakdown is anthropogenic.&nbsp;
Waiting for a disaster to strike means we have waited too long. Search and rescue readiness are well and good, but much more important is preparedness — seismic resistance structures especially of public buildings, strict zoning to establish open spaces, pre-positioning supplies and simulated drills.
We do not know how much time we have before the next one. But it is not too late to start preparing. &nbsp;
Sonia Awale