State of Health and Health Care in Tribal Areas

The problem of lower health status of tribal people is global. A recent international review revealed that health and social outcomes compared on 9 indicators were poorer for tribal people than for the rest of the population in most of the countries. However, it is not nature's inviolable law. Life expectancy among indigenous people is more than 70 years in the high-income countries. Infant mortality rate for indigenous people is less than ten in the high-income countries. Nearer home, it is 6.6 in Thailand. In India during the comparable period, it was 74.

The tribal people in India form a heterogeneous ....