Tribal Women Health Status and Inequality Access to Health Services in Tribal Region of Odisha: An Empirical Finding

Abstract

The paper focuses on empirical findings carried out in Mayurbhanj, one of the physically inaccessible tribal-dominated fully Scheduled Area districts of India. The study critically looks into the availability of quality public health infrastructure at different levels of health institutions of the district. It tries to quantify the accessibility of the Munda tribal women into the sponsored health services. More particularly it analyses the disease profile of the Munda women, sources of treatment, expenditure pattern, their perception and attitude towards modern treatment. While quantifying the qualitative responses of the Munda women, the study tried to find out the gaps in and barriers to access health service provisions. It justifies the fact that the tribal-dominated regions suffer from adequate quality of health infrastructure provided by the state. The paper also argues that the tribal women as human endowment must be treated as a form of productive capital and the health services provided by the state must treat tribal women as a productive tool.