Health care is defined as the active process by which an individual achieves physical and mental well-being. It means health care actively tries to avoid illness and it consists of ill-people and health care provider (Doctor).
At present health care services are in a crucial condition, so the present ‘crises’ in health care delivery should be the concern of growing body of geographers.
In no area geographical investigations and contributions are more useful than in problems associated with the delivery of health care services.
Health care practices cover all those services which protect and promote the health of community.
Long before the development of modern medicine, indigenous health care practices had always been an integral part of Indian culture. With the advent of allopathic medicine this indigenous system was overshadowed but due to their rich heritage their importance was never reduced. The medicines of the indigenous system on the other hand have less side effects.
Tribal concept of the health has its basis in the holistic approach of the Indian system of medicine and of life itself. Man must be in harmony with his environment which is supposed to include supernatural power, nature and society. Indigenous health practices and blind faith on them have always been an integral part of Indian culture.
Tribal people have enough knowledge of vegetative drugs used as both preventive and curative medicine. The tribes use nature and its products for treatment of various ailments of the body. They have their own specialists who serve them well and in whom they have complete faith and confidence.
Study Unit:
Now Bastar region lies in newly formed state known as Chhattisgarh and extends from 17°46′ to 20°34′ N latitude and 80° 15′ to 82°01′ E longitude with varying elevation. The study unit consists of five districts, with an area 39,114 km.
The total population of Bastar is 26, 72,651 (2001) out of which 13, 29,248 were male and 13, 43,403 female. The percentage of tribal population is about 70 per cent. The sex-ratio is 1,011 female per 1,000 male, while literacy rate varies from districts to districts and in study unit comparatively males are more literate than females.
The main tribes of Bastar are Goud, Moria, Dhurva, Helba and Madia. It is one of the isolated area of the country where most of the tribes continue to live a primitive life below poverty line without proper shelter, food, drinking water and medical facilities. The tribals of the region in general constitute indigenous group sharing common language and culture, living under varying but difficult geo-ecological setting of hills and forests.
Most of their economy revolves around food gathering, hunting and they are also good cultivators. The tribals without any exceptions are cheerful light hearted people. Anyone normally finds them laughing and joking among themselves: most of them bear a singular character for truthfulness and honesty.
A large segment of tribal population depends upon their traditional health care system supported by their own people known as Baiga, Ojha, (quacks) etc. Normally tribal people of Bastar use herbs and roots to treat sick persons.
Method of Approach and Objectives:
Usually tribal people are habitual to use their traditional health care system for most of their health disorders. So it is the prime aim of the present study to find out the reality, use and effects of their own traditional health care system, particularly which is based on herbals/medicinal plants. The present study is basically based on field-study, conducted by the author himself. During his project work most of the information was collected personally through oral-questionnaire method.
Various health care providers, Bagas, and local quacks in different tribal places of Bastar have been interviewed personally. All collected information have been analyzed and arranged scientifically and systematically. Local name of the herbs, plants and roots etc., which they used are also analyzed and arranged with the help of botanical and medical literature.
It is very difficult to get the information regarding conventional ways of treatment from tribal people. Normally they do not want to disclose it. But in this study, author tried his best to get/collect the required information and method of treatment as well as herbs, roots, etc., which they used. This information was collected at least from one place in each tribal development block for each tribal group of the region.
The main objective of the present study is to find out the conventional health care practices mainly based on herbals/medicine plants, so its the main approach and aim is to find out the name of herbs, mode of treatment and their effect on the patient, as well as the tribal group which used them under their own traditional health care system. This type of medical care comes under the indigenous non-professional medical care system.
Discussion:
Herbalists are widely accepted as health healers among the tribal societies whose knowledge of the properties and uses of herbs, roots and barks is supposed to be very extensive. Bastar has very extensive reserves of medicinal plants. The author himself conducted various field studies during his research activities, and some important claims of various tribes of Bastar are as follows.
Bastar tribes have their own method of family-welfare. The ‘Marias’ of ‘Dantewara’ claimed that a woman becomes infertile if three grains of ‘Oria-Granulata’ locally known as ‘Devi-Dhan’ (wild-rice) are taken at a time on the three consecutive days from the 4th day of menstruation.
Another tribal health care provider (herbalist) claimed, another method to terminate pregnancy up to three months by the use of the root paste of the ‘solanum-incanum’ (Rani-Bhejri) applied around the naval of woman. One tribal group of nearby Bijapur of Bastar claimed that one again of Devi-Dhan is enough, if taken on five successive Sundays to attain sterility.
The ‘Bhatras’ of backwand and ‘Halbas’ of Bhanu-Pratpur use a root-paste of ‘crepis-acanlis’ locally known as ‘Kaam-Roaj’ to save the person from Botulism, in the same manner, the Halbas also collect the occphyllasmarag dina (chapoda) a kind of red tree branch and prepare a chutney (paste) to eat. It is a very effective medicine, which has wonderful therapeutic action on fever.
Beside above, the tribal of Bastar also frequently use some self-made herbal medicine for common and routine health disorder. For example during blood diarrhea, they take ‘curd’ with sugar while during vomiting they take mixture of lemon and sugar.
Amla they used during heart problems and ‘Jamun’ (Suzzgium-cwmin) has been used during stomach pain. During diarrhea they also take cow’s milk with lemon and they cure skin diseases by ‘cherayata’ (Andrographispenigulata). Some important claims obtained from field observation are as follows.
To avoid writing the detailed description of the use of herbal drugs and mode treatment etc., of the tribal people of the geo-medical unit, a new and more effective method has been used. The process has been written in short with the help of abbreviations.
The entire method of treatment has been divided into five major stages, i.e.,
(i) Disorder
(ii) Botanical name of the herb/root etc.
(iii) Local name of the same
(iv) Place of observation
(v) Mode/method of preparation and use of herb/root etc.
Abbreviations are as follows:
P = Place of observation
D = Health disorder
B = Botanical name of the material
L = Local name of the above
MPU = Mode of preparation and use of herb/root etc. for particular health disorder.
Observation I:
P = Bijapur (South-Bastar)
D = Wound healing
B = Bambuso-Arundinaccct
L = Baans
MPU = Green bamboo is scratched with a knife and powdered. Thus obtained is used externally to heal fresh wound.
Observation II:
P = Naryanpur (Centre-Bastar)
D = Rheumatic Arthiritis
B = Blepharis-Permum
L = Raasnajadi
MPU = Juice extracted from root is given for three weeks daily.
Observation III:
P = Bhopal-Pattanam (West-Bastar)
D = Anti-fertility
B = Achyranthes Aspera
L = Latkinna—Chidchidy
MPU = Root paste mixed with milk and given internally on empty stomach.
Observation IV:
P = Sukma (South-Bastar)
D = Haemathuria
B = Butea Superba
L = Pharasbel
MPU = Paste of streamed bark given on empty stomach.
Observation V:
P = Konta (South most Bastar)
D = Cough-cold
B = Colebrookia
L = Kudsaadi
MPU = Leaf is chewed with its juice swallowed to relieve cough.
Observation VI:
P = Lohandiguda (Centre Bastar)
D = Oedema
B = Flemingia
L = Banrrahar
MPU = The juice extract from fresh root given internally in oedematic condition.
Observation VII:
P = Pakanju (West Bastar)
D = Malaria
B = Paederia Foetida
L = Peeth-laha
MPU = The fresh stream is made into a ring and tied around the back of the patient.
Observation VIII:
P = Barsus (Central Bastar)
D = Headache
B = Chloroxylone swietaenia
L = Birra
MPU = Paste of leaf and root is given internally. The paste is also used as balm.
Observation IX:
P = Kondagawon (Eastern-Bastar)
D = Asthma
B = Cassia-Auriculata.
L = Anwl
MPU = The extract from the seeds is taken orally.
Observation X:
P = Antagarh (North-Bastar)
D = Piles
B = Psidium Gueyava
L = Bihi Ki chal
MPU = The paste is used locally.
Observation XI:
P = Keskal (North Bastar)
D = Abdominal Pain
B = Ammania Baccifera
L = Upka-Patti
MPU = Leaves boiled and after discarding the water the hot paste is applied around the abdomen.
Observation XII:
P = Dantewara (Centre-Bastar)
D = Sore choked throat
B = Mungifera Indica
L = Ratti-Patti
MPU = Chew the leaves for relief