Heart attacks, strokes and cancer are the main causes of death among tribal people, a study by the Tribal Health Research Forum of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has found.
The study on tribal deaths, carried out in 12 districts with more than 50% tribal people between 2016 and 2018, found that 66% of deaths were caused by Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Infectious diseases caused 15% of the deaths, and injuries caused 11% of the deaths. Non-communicable diseases caused 69% of deaths in north eastern districts and 59% in other districts.
The study was done in one district each of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Triupura, Sikkim, Mizoram, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, and Meghalaya, where about 5,292 victim families were interviewed. The objective was to understand the causes of death among tribal population to design focused intervention programmes.
Other leading causes of death among tribal people were neoplasms (13%), chronic respiratory diseases (10%), HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (7%), gastroenteritis (5%), and malaria (2%). Cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, were responsible for 24% of deaths.
HEART, BLOOD VESSEL DISEASES
The study found that heart and blood vessel diseases were the main cause of death in 10 out of 12 districts, while hypertension was the most common pre-existing condition. The study found that 29% of the dead had high blood pressure.
“NCDs were thought to be a problem only in cities,” said Dr Prabhdeep Kaur, Senior Scientist and Deputy Director, ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, who led the study. “But that’s not true. The question of why they get these diseases is a different one. But we should know that it’s time to start focusing more on NCDs. When most research is done on Malaria, TB, and such communicable diseases, not enough research has been done on NCD deaths, especially among tribal people. So, a plan was made for a national study that included many remote sites. As a public health worker, the field work and study really opened my eyes. From what we have seen in the past, we know that because tribal areas are in remote places with poor health systems, usually they get medical help very late. This study will help us come up with programmes that take them into account,” she said.
CANCER SECOND LEADING CAUSE
Cancer was the second leading cause of death in the North Eastern part of the country. Cancer caused the most deaths in Mizoram than in any of the other 12 places that were studied.
The study says that the high rates of cancer and other NCDs in tribal areas may be caused by the high rates of risk factors such as drinking and smoking. Half of the people who died had used alcohol or tobacco in the past five years.
Tuberculosis was the infectious disease that killed the most people. The study found that people who had already been diagnosed with Tuberculosis also died.
A total of 70% of the dead died at home. One-fourth of the people who died did not go to the doctor before they died, 9% of people died at district hospitals, 7% at unknown outdoor locations, 5% at private hospitals, 3% on the way to a health facility, another 3% at a PHC or rural hospital, and 2% at a medical college or cancer hospital.
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