Hello People!
We are back with our next article. Today, we will talk about the recently launched Tribal Health Collaborative- ‘Anamaya’. We will discuss all the major points of this initiative. Additionally, we will cover issues and initiatives related to tribal health in India. So if you are curious to know all about this topic, read the article carefully till the end.
Table of Contents
About Anamaya
‘Anamaya’ is a Tribal Health Collaborative (THC) launched to tackle the health challenges faced by tribal communities. It is launched jointly by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda. Major points of this initiative are:
- Aim: To build a sustainable, high-performing health ecosystem to address the key health challenges faced by the tribal population of India.
- It is a multi-stakeholder initiative supported by Piramal Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
- It will converge efforts of government and other organisations to enhance the health and nutrition status of the tribal communities.
- The initiative is committed to ending preventable deaths in the tribal communities in India.
Activities planned under Anamaya
As part of the Anamaya initiative, the Tribal Ministry has planned the following activities:
- It will begin with 50 tribal, Aspirational Districts (with more than 20% ST population) across 6 high tribal population states.
- The initiative will be extended to 177 tribal districts over the next 10 years.
- It proposes to establish 500 Primary Health Centres and 100 Community Health Centres in the coming years.
- Setting up of the National Council on Tribal Health to drive policy initiatives in tribal health.
- Establishment of a Health Cell to closely monitor healthcare delivery in the tribal areas.
- Development of other mechanisms to implement Tribal Health Action Plan.
Now, let’s have a glimpse of the Tribal Health Action Plan proposed by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs:
Tribal Health Action Plan- Important Points
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has proposed the following points under the Tribal Health Action Plan:
- Preservation of traditional medicinal practices and promotion of Tribal Healers.
- Establishment of Tribal Medical Colleges in one of the three tribal-dominated Districts with tribal population more than 50%.
- Establishment of new Tribal Primary Health Centres (PHC) and Community Health Centres (CHC).
- Renovation and Modernization of existing PHCs.
- Creation of a pool of tribal health personnel including doctors, paramedics,
- pathologists, nurses etc.
- Networking of tribal villages with Motorcycle Ambulances.
- Introduction of Tele Medicinal Services.
Health Issues faced by Tribal Communities
According to the Report of the Expert Committee on Tribal Health, Tribal people in India suffer the following ten burdens:
- Communicable diseases and malnutrition
- Non-communicable diseases including mental illness and addiction
- Animal and snake bites and violent conflicts
- Worse socio-economic determinants especially in housing, education, and sanitation
- Difficult natural conditions arising out of geographic terrains
- Poor quality and inappropriate health care services
- Constraints in the availability of health human resource at all levels
- Lack of Funds or allocated funds not utilized properly
- Lack of data for evaluation and monitoring of schemes and their impact
- Political dis-empowerment of tribal people from individual to the national level. Lack of participation from tribal people in planning, priority setting and execution.
Other Initiatives Related to Tribal Health
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is constantly working to improve the health of tribal communities in India. Some of the notable initiatives related to Tribal Health are:
- ‘Swasthya’: Ministry of Tribal Affairs launched the Tribal Health and Nutrition Portal ‘Swasthya’. It’s an e-portal that will provide all health and nutrition-related information of the tribal population of India. It will also curate innovative practices, research briefs, case studies, and best practices.
- Tribal Health Cell: It is being set up in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. It will facilitate and strengthen primary health care systems and invest in tribal health research.
- 1000 Springs Initiative: It is a unique project which aims at improving access to safe and adequate water for the tribal communities. It is for tribal people living in difficult and inaccessible parts of rural areas in the country. It is based on using perennial springs’ water to address the scarcity of water in tribal areas.
With this, we come to the end of this article. We have covered all the major points related to Tribal Health Collaborative- ‘Anamaya’. We have also discussed health issues faced by the tribal communities. Alongside, we have talked about the other initiatives related to tribal health launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Hope you have gained some wonderful insights from this article.
Thank you for reading!
