In an ethnopharmacological screening of selected medicinal plants used in Nepal, methanol extracts from 21 plant species were assayed for activity against 8 strains of bacteria and 5 strains of fungi. Duplicate assays were conducted with and without exposure to UV-A radiation to test for light-activated or light-enhanced activity. All 21 of the extracts showed activity against at least 2 bacterial strains, and 20 showed activity against at least 2 fungi. Six extracts were active only when exposed to UV-A light, and the antibiotic or antifungal effect of 14 extracts was enhanced upon exposure to light.