Tribals’ health is precarious

Malaria, malnutrition the main ills

There are many reasons to welcome the first report on the health of tribal people in India, although it has to be asked why it should be the first. A comprehensive study takes time: although the United Progressive Alliance government had commissioned it in 2013, the report, Tribal Health in India: Bridging the Gap and a Roadmap for the Future, was submitted to the Union health ministry just last month. Electricity is used by 52 per cent of ST households only, and clean cooking fuel by onethird. Amid the campaign against open defecation that includes shaming women and beating up men, more than 90 per cent of the tribal people in Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Odisha “go” in the fields, and 77.3 per cent of their households have no drainage.

It is not surprising that the report has identified 10 main health issues that must be addressed immediately. Topping the list are malaria control, and reducing malnutrition and child mortality, together with care for women's health, dealing with animal bites and sickle cell disease. The report emphasises health literacy and recommends practical and financial measures to create a proper health infrastructure with increased access for tribal people. Not only are other aspects bleak, but also the child sex ratio has worsened noticeably from 2001 to 2011. The implications are obvious and ominous.

The Telegraph, September 7