Geographical Aspects of Health and Disease in India

The book discusses policy issues about the distinctiveness of Tribal Health in the spirit in which Constitution of India has accorded special status to tribal communities in exclusive governance pattern.
Malnutrition as under-nutrition among the tribal people is expressed as “National Shame” by the leaders of the country. Judicial concerns about “right to life” are expressed by entertaining public interest litigations and through Suo Motu injunctions, about tribal child malnutrition. Measurement of poverty and malnutrition is a policy dilemma.
The book presents an intervention case study of developing a community model for successfully addressing the issues of under-nutrition in tribal belts of Maharashtra. “Comprehensive and Sustainable Human Development of the Tribal People of Maharashtra” short titled as “Adivasi Utthan Karyakram” was offered by the Government of Maharashtra during 2004-2013, jointly to Maharashtra Association of Anthropological Sciences, Pune and Comprehensive Rural Health Project, Jamkhed. The interventions designed, implemented and monitored as practicing anthropology with socio-epidemiological approach, formally functioned as NGO-Government partnership in tribal development.
Community ownership of the programme is manifested through implementation by 500 tribal men and women village volunteers covering 250 villages in seven tribe-dominant districts of Maharashtra.