This book is an exhaustive study of the health status and medical beliefs and practices of tribes of Kerala in relation to their ecological and socio- cultural determinants. It covers the present health care practices of seven tribes of Kerala in terms of the pluralistic medical facilities available.

The Present Work Is An Attempts To Bring Together The Clinical And Biogenetic Aspects, On One Hand, And The Traditional Cultural Heritage In The Form Of Traditions Medical Systems, On The Other.

Contributed papers.

This book discusses the significance of local governments in public healthcare systems in developing countries, particularly India. It considers a new model of public health delivery system in the Indian state of Kerala, which is unique in achieving a fairly high level of human and social development with a relatively low level of economic development. Unlike most Indian states, Kerala has devolved the control of health service management to local governments, though the state government still has administrative powers, resulting in a system of dual responsibilities. Transfer of public health control from state government to local governments has seen an increase in the participation of the local community in public health delivery management. Based on a field study conducted in Keralan districts, this book explains the scope for mobilising local resources for the implementation of public health projects under local government, discussing a unique model of co-production between the government and civil society that can improve health services, efficiency and equity, leading to better health outcomes. As such, this study will be of interest to scholars and practitioners in the areas of health, local governance and decentralised planning.

Medical practices and healing rituals existing within the tribal communities of Kerala, India.

It is generally presumed that tribals in India tend to be healthy, living as they do in unpolluted surroundings away from the stresses and strains of modern living. This no longer hold good as evident from the many health reports appearing with health related problems. It is alarming that sufficient data regarding tribal health is not available with the government itself. The plight of tribals whose health parameters are already well below the national average is worsening. One of the basic factors which affect the tribal health is the physical environment from which majority of them draw their sustenance. Degraded eco-systems are no longer able to support tribal population, many of whom have registered a higher growth rate than the national average. On the contrary, there are tribal communities, which are actually declining and being threatened with extinction, because of malnutrition which renders them more susceptible to disease. The diseases which can be easily cured assume epidemic proportion among tribals because of isolation of their habitats, illiteracy and lack of access to medical care. The present study deals with human settlements, human activities and health among tribals of Rajasthan. Human settlements are territorially bounded socialsystem or subsystems (economic, material culture, religious, political, ethical, educational, legal, social reproductive etc) serving a resident population. In the tradition of anthropological science, the study was undertaken within total social and cultural context. Although research work was carried in few villages, but it did not confined only to those. Village was chosen as unit of study because it is the most manageable functional unit in which a pattern of tribal culture and structure of tribal society could be studied. The main purpose of the study was to obtain an integrated picture of the tribal s health and sickness, nutritional status, socio-economic conditions, settlement pattern and environ-mental conditions against the background of existing medical and sanitary facilities available, so as to discover the main health provision and necessary measures for bringing about improvement in the health care system.