She was only ten years old, sitting on the steps outside her school in a remote village, tears quietly rolling down her cheeks.
“My mother says the vaccine will make me sick. My teacher says I must take it. I don’t know who to believe.”
I knelt beside her and gently said, “Your mother loves you, and so do we. This vaccine will protect you from a disease you can’t see today but may one day fear. We’re all here to keep you safe together.”
Later that afternoon, the girl agreed to be vaccinated.
Who succeeded—the injection or the health worker?
The real success wasn’t the injection itself. It was the trust that was built—a quiet moment of connection where science met compassion.
This moment reminds us that public health is not only about policies, data, or programs. It is about people and the courage to listen, understand, and respond with empathy. In that sense, public health is, at its core, an act of diplomacy.
In today’s world, where pandemics, climate threats, and misinformation know no borders, Nepal faces a dual challenge—and a powerful opportunity:
- To practice diplomacy for public health by engaging internationally to advance national health goals; and
- To practice diplomacy within public health by building trust every day in classrooms, clinics, communities, and coordination forums.
Public Health Diplomacy: Navigating Global Health with National Interests
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nepal had no vaccine manufacturing of its own. However, through timely diplomacy, it received vaccines from India, China, the United States, and COVAX.
These efforts reflected more than just having a health policy. They required coordinated engagement between the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepalese embassies, and development partners. Health goals were advanced not just by science, but also by diplomatic outreach.
Nepal’s growing voice in global platforms signals our intent to shape not just receive—global health agenda. Be it on climate change, migration, or antimicrobial resistance, Nepal is learning to speak the language of public health diplomacy.
Diplomacy within Public Health: Building Trust from the Ground Up
Diplomacy also lives at home—in the quiet negotiations between health workers and hesitant parents, in the complex coordination among tiers of government, and in the gentle persuasion of community leaders.
The rollout of the HPV vaccine taught us that facts alone do not change minds—trust does. In addition, trust is built through listening, explaining, and standing alongside people in their uncertainty.
Federalization brought another form of diplomacy. As health roles were divided among federal, provincial, and local governments, it took time, patience, and negotiation to prevent confusion and ensure continuity. These were not confrontations, but they were acts of diplomacy within the system.
Time to Act: Building a Diplomatically Skilled Health Workforce
Nepal’s recent public health experience—from international vaccine diplomacy to local trust-building—proves that technical knowledge alone is no longer enough. We need a health workforce that is as skilled in compassion as it is in clinical competence and as fluent in negotiation as in numbers.
So how do we get there?
It begins with intentional investment in soft skills—through both education and practice.
- Public health schools must integrate training in communication, emotional intelligence, negotiation, and community engagement into core curricula—not as electives, but as foundational competencies.
- On-the-job training should equip frontline health workers, program managers, and even administrators with practical tools to manage misinformation, navigate conflict, and lead cross-sector coordination.
- Leadership development programs within the Ministry of Health and partner institutions should explicitly include modules on health diplomacy, systems thinking, and stakeholder engagement.
- Field-based learning and mentoring where future public health professionals shadow experienced practitioners in real-world decision-making spaces—can bridge the gap between classroom theory and the complexity of human interaction.
These skills are not “nice to have.” They are essential survival tools in an age of infodemics, contested health priorities, and deepening inequalities.
If Nepal is to lead on emerging public health issues such as pandemic preparedness, climate resilience, digital transformation, and health equity, we must cultivate a generation of health professionals who can lead not just with evidence, but also with empathy and diplomacy.
Because in public health, the most powerful interventions are not always those that go through a syringe or policy document. Sometimes, they begin with a trembling voice and tearful eyes.
With a child, alone on a school step, confused, afraid, and caught between fear and trust. And in that moment, what changes everything is not a medical degree or a government directive, but a quiet presence, a gentle voice, someone who kneels down and listens.
That is where healing begins.
That is where public health truly lives.
(Author Dr. K. Mahat is a Public Health Specialist.)
