Nepal faces medicine crisis amid ongoing protests

Nepal has been facing medical crisis amid ongoing protest by the Madhesi community at the main crossing of India-Nepal border.

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Trucks importing medicines from India have been blocked at the border crossing of Birgunj by the Madhesi community.

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The nascent republic, wedged between China and India, has been in turmoil since September when it adopted a new constitution. People from ethnic Madhesi groups living along the border with India, began protests saying Nepal's first republican charter did not accommodate their interests.

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A doctor, Rakesh, said that there was shortage of injectable medicines mainly imported from India.

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"We are having problems in supplies of injectable medicines which come from other countries, mostly India. Indian medicines like antibacterial, antibiotics and injectable medicines are in crisis," said Rakesh.

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The landlocked country is heavily dependent on neighboring India for most of its medicine and fuel.

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Last week, Nepali police shot and killed two protesters in separate incidents in the Himalayan nation's restive southern plains as they tried to break up demonstrations against a new constitution.

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Nepal blames New Delhi for siding with the protesters, a charge India denies.

With the landlocked nation of 28 million people recovering from its worst earthquake on record, Nepal has turned to China to meet its fuel needs, breaking an Indian monopoly.

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The incident in Saptari came as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all sides to resolve their differences in a peaceful and flexible manner.

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Several rounds of negotiations between the government and protest leaders have failed amid differences over how to change the internal boundaries of newly created federal states.