Inequality in health and health care utilization among tribes and non-tribes in India

Health and health care needs to be distinguished from each other. Bedsides health care arrangements, many other factors outside the health sector play a key role in determining the health status of individuals and communities such as standard of living, access to basic minimum social services, gender equity etc,. A number of factors affect the evolution of health care arrangement in a society. They include its cultural understanding of ill health and well-being, extent of socio-economic disparities, reach of health services and quality and cost of care. The National policy on tribal emphasized the need of health care services in the tribal areas as the immediate requirement in order to check malnutrition and other infectious diseases. Health is a prerequisite for human development and is an essential component for the well being of the mankind. The health problems of any community are influenced by interplay of various factors including social, economic and political ones. The study aims to assess the inequality existing in health and health care utilization among the tribes and non-tribes and examine the factors affecting the health care utilization among the tribes. Data for this study have been used from NFHS-3. Preliminary analysis shows that utilization of private health care facilities are more as compared to government health care facilities. Education and standard of living is having impact on utilization of health care facility among tribes and non-tribes. As education and standard of living increases the utilization of government health facility decreases.