Tribal Health Care Research

As per Ayurveda (the science of life) point of view, the Health which is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being is a fundamental human right and the attainment of the highest possible level of health is the most important worldwide social goal. In recent years, the question of health care especially for the tribal population has received the attention of all as well as international bodies like W.H.O.

The North East India comprises states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The area is characterized by rich bio-diversity, heavy precipitation and high seismicity. It is endowed with forest wealth and is ideally suited to produce a whole range of plantation crops, spices, fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs. The region has a high concentration of tribal population. The states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland are mostly inhabited by a number of native tribes. Each tribe has its own distinct tradition of art, culture, dance, music and life styles. As per the Census of India 2001, the Scheduled Tribes (STs) constituting 12.4 percent of the total population of the Assam state. The state has registered 15.1 percent decadal growth of ST population in 1991-2001. Though the tribes of Assam has their own culture, language and own traditional healers, the complete health as per the definition of the W.H.O is too far to them to attain and especially for the tribes who are staying in most remote areas.

The Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS) has launched several programmes like Mobile Clinical Research Programme (MCRU), Survey & Surveillance Programme (SSP) and Tribal Health Care Research Programme (THCRP) through which the Council is collecting the data related to health care practices of rural/tribal people and has also undertaken studies on various aspects of the disease causing factors in relation to their Prakriti (inmate of human being) and demographical status etc. As a part of THCRP, the Regional Research Institute (Ayurveda), Guwahati has taken much pain to conduct tours in remote areas of Assam during the period from 2002 to 2008. A total number of 23,656 tribal populations were covered in 22 villages and among them 5310 patients with different ailments were provided treatment. The study helped in the evaluation of different demographical aspects in relation to the aetiology of various diseases and the study also provided the data regarding the results of treatment.

There had been many problems and difficulties in carrying out the studies properly in the rural areas but inspite of all difficulties, the observations made out of the present study have become very interesting to read and to explore further research avenues in this regard. The work rendered by the team of Regional Research Institute (Ayurveda), Guwahati is highly appreciable and the Council has put their efforts in its records. The tireless efforts made by Dr. A. K. Mangal, Research Officer (Pharmacognosy) in bringing out this publication in an attractive shape are worth mentioning and the secretarial assistance rendered by Ms. Meenakshi, D.E.O. is appreciable.

I hope that the work presented in this monograph shall provide to be a step ahead in the field of demographical health related research and catering health services which are needed in the tribal areas.

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