Bhopal: Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), Bhopal organised a workshop on ‘Tribal Health-Identifying the Gaps’ at Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU) in collaboration with National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), Jabalpur on Wednesday. Experts said that traditional healers in the areas, dominated by tribes are key to address tribal health issues. Efforts to keep them in loop while formulating any policy will ensure better health conditions for them. Aparup Das, director, ICMR-NIRTH elaborated initiatives taken by the Institute to improve the health condition of tribal community in India.
Das said that tribal community generally never complain about their health related problems, rather they will approach traditional healer in their area to cure the disease. “We need to bring all traditional healers and their expert knowledge in loop to prepare a comprehensive health policy for tribal community. We need to identify the gaps in tribal health programmes and should try to bridge these gaps with the help of traditional healers,” he added. He extended cooperation with IGNTU and IGRMS for more research on tribal health.
Prof. Sarit K. Chaudhuri, director, IGRMS, Bhopal said that Indian tribes are diverse in nature. “Any tribal development policy can be successful only when it addresses their specific cultural needs. Regional variation in tribes must be kept in mind while formulating any plan”, he said. Prof. T.V. Kattimani, vice-chancellor, IGNTU said that the University is trying to every challenges faced by the tribal community including health, sanitation, primary and higher education. A working group with these two premier institutes can be formed to formulate more programmes, he suggested.
The day-long workshop witnessed expert lectures on Tribal Health: Historical, Conceptual and Philosophical Issues, Tribal specific diseases and their Management: The intervening role of Universities and Research Institutes, Importance of Traditional medicinal Knowledge, Strengthening Community Health Care through Community level activities, Vital Demographic statistics about Tribes, Tribal Women and their Health Status and Health and Nutrition Management. Besides, IGNTU also signed an MoU with NIRTH for health related research and with IGRMS to offer PG Diploma in museology during the workshop.
