Introduction:

Tribal Community in Karnataka fails on the first premise of health – the absence of disease. The community  needs support to understand and imbibe the advanced tenets of wellbeing. As a part of our health camp, we brought together all stakeholders who have concern over improving their personal health. The Health Camp conducted by PFWCK is an initiative to integrate awareness of community health and insights obtained from the community through health surveys. Health is influenced by factors such as community attitudes, the community environment(physical, social, political, and economic), and history. Health is more than physical well-being, or the mere absence of disease, illness, or injury . It is a range of factors –economic, social, political, ecological, and physical –that add up to healthy, high-quality lives for individuals and communities

Factors Influencing the Health of Tribal Community

1) Physical Factors: In areas of MM Hills ,Mysore and Chamarajanagar & BR Hills , these factors include the influences of geography(next to the highway, extreme traffic pollution, under-construction high-rises and bridges etc nearby), the environment(proximity to Deonar dumping ground as well as the industrial sewages.

2) Social and Cultural Factors: Here, the population  is mostly illitrate and is a mix of various etinic community. Taboos of each society hold here. Family planning is un-negotiated with large sized families being the norm.

3) Community Organisation: PFWCK health camp is the first of its kind initiative to bring together the community to spread awareness and provide relevant diagnosis for the plaguing health problems of the community residents.

4) Individual Factors: There is a hierarchy in the way  houses are maintained in the buildings of tribal community . Some have 2-3 adjacent rooms clubbed as one house. Such families have gated the entrance to the entire wing of their joint rooms and seem to live in comparatively better affluence. However, personal sense of sanitation and hygiene is always debatable in this community.

Facilities provided at PFWCK Health Camp:

1. General Consultation PFWCK partnered with local doctors for General Physicians, Gynaecologists, Gastroenterologist, and Oncologists and with Govt. Hospitals. From both partner organisations, 7 doctors were present for support with consultation of the 250 registered patients who attended the Health Camp for various ailments including Tuberculosis, Body Ache, Skin Allergies, Period related issues, Diabetes, UTI, Asthma, Thyroid.
2. Dental Check-Up For support on dental check-up, we partnered with Doctors of Chamarajnagar district,which focuses on providing medical care to the vulnerable communities. The dentist examined teeth, gums and mouth to diagnose dental problems like cavities, exposed roots and teeth sensitivity. The Doctor alsos suggested teeth cleaning habits, and diet changes required to maintain healthy teeth and gums.
3. Eye Check Up – Through Doctors for You we had support from Ophthalmologists and trained nurses who specialise in eye and vision care. They performed eye exams to detect eye-related conditions like glaucoma and prescribed medication and regular eye exercises to cure and prevent eye related conditions.

4. Vaccination and De-worming – Vaccinations were provided to children to develop immunity against several diseases like polio, measles, mumps and rubella. Along with vaccinations, de worming tablets were also provided to children. Such tablets help children get rid of parasites such as roundworm and tapeworm.

5. Healthy Food Kit: PFWCK partnered with donors to provide food kits to the patients. The kit comprised of Bananas, Buttermilk, Dates and Protein Powder and was provided to all patients who came for the health camp without any additional charges. The Food provided was rich in Vitamin B, Potassium,Magnesium and Fibre and was chosen basis deficiencies observed in people residing in the Govandi Community, where the Health Camp was held.

7. Medicines: Myna collaborated with JAN AUSHADI UNIT to provide medicines for free or for nominal cost to all patients. During the health camp, the prescription provided by the doctors was taken to the medicine counter, where patients could collect their medicines for free. For future medicine requirements, all health camp patients could purchase medicines from JAN AUSHADI Unit, at a highly subsidised rate.