The tribals of Jharkhand continue to be one of the fragile population, mainly due to their poor health and nutritional status. The major contributors to the increased disease risk amongst tribal communities include:

• poverty and consequent under-nutrition;

• poor environmental sanitation, poor hygiene and lack of safe drinking water leading to increased morbidity from water and vector-borne infections;

• lack of access to health care facilities resulting in the increased severity and duration of illnesses;

• social barriers and taboos preventing utilisation of available health care services;

• Vulnerability to specific diseases like G-6 PD deficiency, Yaws, and other endemic diseases like malaria.

Malnutrition is fairly common among the tribals, especially their children and women, debilitating their physical condition and lowering their resistance to disease. As most tribal women suffer from anaemia which lowers resistance to fatigue, this affects their working capacity and increases susceptibility to disease particularly for those having closely-spaced frequent pregnancies. Lack of income and poor health facilities at PHCs also affect their health adversely. Almost all the tribals in the country do not have a satisfactory dietary pattern as their diets are frequently deficient in calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Riboflavin and animal protein. The tribals are thus caught in a vicious cycle of malnutrition and ill-health.