When we wrote last year in India Development Review about how neglecting healthcare delivery for India’s 104 million tribal people undermines India's ability to meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals on hunger (SDG 2) and health and well-being (SDG 3), we had only an inkling of the looming public health crisis to come.

Fast-forward 14 months, and the gaps in healthcare are tragically plain to see. The ongoing onslaught of COVID-19 on rural and tribal populations has underscored the importance of investing not only in preventative and promotive healthcare, but also in robust primary health systems that are responsive to the needs of local communities.

Enter Anamaya, a tribal health collaborative, which was recently launched to "end preventable deaths for tribal and other marginalised communities across India". Anamaya seeks to bridge the large gaps in health and wellbeing indicators across tribal and non-tribal people in India, drawing on the strengths of collaborative initiatives across government, philanthropy, non-profits, academic and research institutions, and the private sector.1

Size and scale of the tribal health issue

Tribal populations across India score consistently lower on health and nutrition indicators and wider determinants of health, according to a compendium of district-level factsheets comparing tribal and non-tribal populations in India, released on 7th April 2021. (An exception is the northeast, whose large, resident tribal populations experience relatively better health than non-tribals.) These factsheets draw on the National Family Health Survey—4 data, as well as data gathered by the International Institute of Population Sciences and the Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute. Single district factsheets were developed for districts with at least 200 tribal households Smaller districts were merged geographically (geographically contiguous) to get to 200 tribal households. The compendium seeks to inform better decisions and support district governments in creating customised health interventions for their tribal populations.

Collaborative action

The Expert Committee on Tribal Health, chaired by Dr. Abhay Bang, issued a report in 2018 which recommended the creation of a functional and sustainable system of healthcare for tribal people by 2022. Drawing on the committee's report, and on learnings from the sector and from consultations with tribal health experts, Anamaya was launched on 7th April 2021 on World Health Day. The collaborative brings together multiple stakeholders that want to create a positive impact on tribal health in India, including the Government, philanthropies and other donors, nonprofits, academic/ research organisations, and the tribal community.

Anamaya will have two main roles to deliver improved tribal health outcomes: first, to facilitate implementation of primary health interventions by the Government and nonprofit actors in tribal areas, adopting a health systems approach; and second, to develop and disseminate knowledge specific to tribal health. The collaborative's efforts will be underpinned by an open health technology platform to enable evidence-based decisions and empower health workers and patients.

Read the full article about India's tribal health conundrum by Dr. Shailendra Kumar B. Hegde at The Bridgespan Group.