- Objective – To converge efforts of various Government agencies & organisations to enhance the health and nutrition status of the tribal communities of India.
- Supporting Partners – Piramal Foundation & Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
Activities to be undertaken
As part of the initiative, Tribal Ministry will
- Set up a National Council on Tribal Health to drive policy initiatives in Tribal Health.
- Establish a Health Cell to monitor healthcare delivery in tribal areas.
- Devising mechanisms to implement the Tribal Health Action Plan.
Highlights
- During the meeting, Dr Harsh Vardhan highlighted the joint efforts taken by the Ministries of Tribal Affairs and Health & Family Welfare to jointly address the health gaps of tribal communities.
- In March 2021, Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the ‘Tribal TB Initiative’ as a step towards the goal of ‘TB Mukt Bharat’ by 2025.
Problems facing Tribals
Tribals face several problems when accessing public health systems.
- Lack of health facilities in indigenous communities.
- Cultural differences with health care providers such as differences in languages, human resource shortages.
- Difficult Terrain & infrequent transport among others.
Additional Info:
Anamaya is an initiative bringing together governments, philanthropists, national and international foundations, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)/Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to end all preventable deaths among the tribal communities of India.
It aims to build a sustainable, high-performing health eco-system to address the key health challenges faced by the tribal population of India. It will begin its operations with 50 tribal, Aspirational Districts (with more than 20% ST population) across 6 high tribal population states.
Over a 10-year period, the work of the THC will be extended to 177 tribal Districts as recognised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
Recent Related News:
i.On 17th August 2020, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda inaugurated the first of its kind e-portal “Swasthya”, a tribal health and nutrition portal.
About Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA):
Union Minister – Arjun Munda (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Khunti, Jharkhand)
Minister of State – Renuka Singh Saruta (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Surguja, Chhattisgarh)
