India: Health Problems Among Tribal Population Need To Be Addressed – OpEd

By Abhishek Kumar

India is a home to approximately more than 650 tribes. Though the accurate data could be much more than this. Geographical isolation, over all backwardness, distinct culture and religion and shyness of contact are the common traits in them.

A few more common factors among them are high level of malnutrition, morbidity and mortality rates. The degree of risky physical ventures, prevalence of high risk of genetic disorders, high level of malnutrition and lack of health facilities being their major causes, and adds to it a prevalence of immense superstitious beliefs and lack of education.

Abhishek Kumar
Patna,Bihar,India

The tribal people live in a close conjunction to the nature as compared to the non tribes; hence the adverse effect of climate change is an active as well as a potential threat to them.
The issues of handling their problems have been widely discussed. The facilitation of health infrastructure along with education has been the core of it. The major road block becomes the implementation part of it. The areas with difficult accessibility and their sparsely spread population makes the task grueling.

The tribal areas, first, need to be well surveyed and works carried out for ensuring a good physical connectivity to them. The creation of health and education infrastructure should then follow. The plans and schemes, then after, should be made area specific.

Training a few members of the community and using them as a mediator to publicize the government schemes and help the unhealthy superstitions exit, can be of great help. The medical system, in addition to health facilities, should also provide medical counseling and family planning techniques. More importantly it should be able to attract the community towards it.
The school syllabus in the areas should be community specific and not defy their firm cultural beliefs. The media should also take the pain to high lighten the problems prevalent in these areas, in order to attract the public eye to these medically vulnerable groups.

The tribal people are an asset to our cultural and historical heritage; their sub standard health conditions offer a threat to their existence. It’s our responsibility to rescue them. They should be taken care of.