As far as poverty is concerned, India is counted poorest in line with Nigeria and Congo through different global development indexes. As per a study in 2014, 58% people of the total population of India live on less than Rs. 200/- a day. In a few pockets/districts which have made the headlines particularly in Bihar and Odisha even live on Rs. 270/- to Rs. 280/- as their monthly per-capita consumption rate. Tribal, forest dwellers, and other excluded communities have been the worst victims of abject poverty throughout ages. Even to-day, this is a general phenomenon and a normal sight that whenever and wherever you find a malnourished girl child or a shabby boy child with sunken eye and hollowed chick, be sure, she or he should be belonging to any one of an indigenous primitive community or a dalit or neglected OBC category.
Health is beyond debate interlinked with poverty, and ill health or poor health often indicates the status or level of poverty. On the other hand poverty contributes to vulnerability of health, and thus the cycle goes on. The tribals, dalits and other marginalized sections have been subjected to untold miseries of poverty, and after centuries of socio-political and economic deprivation, they have now arrived at a juncture of generations of deteriorating health, resulting in short life span, stunting, and weak immune exposed as easy prey to hazardous diseases.
A recent comprehensive assessment study of tribal health conducted by an expert committee appointed five years ago by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Tribal Development-Government of India reveals that tribal populations in the country have been logging behind almost on every health parameters. The report says that “they live at least three years less (normally much less) than the non-tribals, have higher malnutrition, a significantly lower immunization coverage, substantially higher low-birth-weight children, and are much more susceptible to communicable diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and leprosy. They have alarmingly poorer health indicators, a greater burden of morbidity and mortality and very limited access to health services.” Statistics shows that these people account for almost 30% of total malaria cases in the country 50% of malaria death. Similarly when the national average of tuberculosis prevalence is 256 per lakh the tribals alone have 703 per lakh prevalence of tuberculosis. Life expectancy as per Lancet study in 2016 of the general population in India is 67 years where as for tribals 63.9 years and again the study admits that this 63.9 is a maximum over estimated calculation. Above all, the IMR among the tribal is alarmingly so high with 44.4% per 1000 live birth that unlike PVTG probably the nation is approaching to a situation of total extinction of tribal people in India (National Family Health Survey 2015-16).
The Destiny Charitable Trust being primarily a health focused organization is not only aware of the above situation but have been experiencing the factual situation in their on-going campaign of addressing health issues among the tribals.
The Destiny Charitable Trust has a multi-dimensional understanding on this complex situation of health as a whole. At one hand the issue of health cannot be taken at par with the issues of unemployment or education or even human rights violation; because it has to be attended and treated immediately to avoid certain death. On the other hand, no exploration has yet been done to ensure a sustainable and stable health situation of the citizens. Now, the question arises “why any of us have not yet put a thought on an ideal situation where health of each individual is ensured to its maximum irrespective of challenges? Is taking health through a rights perspective becomes illogical and unattainable? Why, when we can think of Right to information, Right to food, Right to education, etc. but can’t think of “Right to health”?
However, the Destiny Charitable Trust has long been on its way on ameliorative or treatment aspect of health. On the Rights perspective of health is just the beginning for the organization.