NEW DELHI, Oct 15: An expert group constituted to review health situation and formulate guidelines to improve services among tribal population has compiled health data at the national level and is expected to submit its report by this year end, the Government said today.
The expert group on tribal health was constituted jointly by the Health Ministry and Tribal Affairs Ministry in 2013 to review the existing health situation in tribal areas, suggest interventions, formulate strategic guidelines for states and develop a national framework to improve healthcare services among the tribal population.
“The expert group has conducted visits to various states to review the existing situation and has for the first time, compiled health data for tribal people at the national level. It is expected to complete its report and recommendations by the end of this year,” a Union Health Ministry statement said.
The group includes representatives from the Central Government, State Governments, research organizations and the civil society.
The statement said that the Ministry also organised a three-day national workshop on best practices in tribal health care at Shodhgram, Gadchiroli, a tribal district of Maharashtra recently to identify possible solutions to address the healthcare needs of India’s 100 million tribal population.
The workshop saw over 50 representatives from 24 organizations present programmes that they have been running to address problems ranging from malaria and maternal mortality to fluorosis and human resource constraints.
Selected entries included a web-based application developed by SEWA Rural, PPP model run by the Karuna Trust in Arunachal Pradesh, malaria control strategy by MITRA in Orissa, Phulwaris for children by the Jan Swasthya Sahyog in Bilaspur and others.
The practices were selected from the 85 entries received by the expert group on tribal health. “These practices represent not just potential solutions for the health related problems that plague tribal communities they also offer a ray of hope in an area that is normally seen as dark and dismal.
“They show us that work is being done to make healthcare accessible to tribal communities,” said Abhay Bang, Expert Group Chairperson.
During the workshop, Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) also demonstrated the home-based newborn care approach including a live demonstration of how ordinary village women trained as health workers can save newborn lives.
This model has been adopted by the National Health Mission (NHM) and scaled up nationally through nearly 9 lakh ASHAs.
Earlier the workshop was inaugurated by the Soumya Swaminathan, Director General, Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).
“This workshop marks an important step towards integrating evidence from the field into policy making for tribal healthcare.
“It also presents a unique opportunity for government departments, ICMR and voluntary agencies to share experiences and learn from each other,” he said. (PTI)
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