‘Language barrier a deterrent for tribals seeking consultation with docs’

Kolkata: The tribals particularly the elderly ones speaking their local language often find it difficult to make doctors and nurses understand their health problems which acts as a barrier in providing the best of healthcare to them.

“The younger generation knows Bengali which makes it easier for them to communicate with a doctor or nurse working in the tribal area but the elderly ones speak only Santhali and so the language wall acts as a deterrent for them to explain their problems accurately to the doctor or nurse,” Sarala Soren, from Purulia said on the sidelines of a recent symposium on tribal health in the city.

Soren hailing from Kurkutiya village in Purulia’s Puncha Police Station was among the tribal women who attended the event. She is a community radio producer. “The leaflets distributed with public health messages are either in Bengali and English and not in Santhali and hence a good section of the tribal residents do not understand what is written in them,” she added.

Doctors attending the seminar advocated for engaging a communicator who speaks both the languages for providing better healthcare to the tribals.

According to public health specialist Nirmalya Mukherjee, who is the director of Centre for Public Health Research, in the last five years particularly post Covid, non-communicable diseases among the tribals are witnessing an upward trend.

“Hypertension, diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases have been affecting the tribals,” he said.

Jaideep Menon, a cardiologist, referred to a recent survey by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to highlight that non-communicable diseases are a major cause of death among tribal people.

“ICMR identified the causes of death of 5,292 individuals between 2015 and 2018. This was done across 12 states in India. It found that 66 per cent of the deaths were from non-communicable diseases (NCDs),” he said.

The website of the World Health Organisation (WHO) lists heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung diseases among NCDs.