Chitwan, June 16 -- Patients arriving at B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital in Bharatpur are facing growing uncertainty as supplies of two essential chemotherapy drugs, carboplatin and cisplatin, run short, forcing many cancer patients and their families to spend days searching for medicines needed to continue treatment.

Doctors say the shortage, which has persisted for weeks, stems from a global scarcity of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used to manufacture the medicines, rising raw material costs and higher production and transportation expenses linked to higher fuel prices.

Importers, however, have been reluctant or unable to bring in sufficient quantities, arguing that medicine prices in Nepal have not been adjusted to ...