We assessed participation in public health surveillance networks among Indian Health Service, tribal, and urban (I/T/U) Indian health facilities for a group of infectious diseases, and barriers to participation. We conducted surveys of I/T/U facilities and key informant interviews with representatives of tribal, urban, and national American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) agencies. For the surveys...

Among many agrobased cottage industries in India sericulture has been promoted as an agro-based, labor intensive, rural oriented cottage industry, providing gainful employment mainly to the weaker and marginalized section of the society specially tribal. Sericulture occupies the place of pride in the rural economy can be practiced even with very low land holding, low gestation, high returns mak...

This article describes the experiences of six individuals employed as community-university research liaisons in a grant-funded centre for health disparities research. The liaisons were located in Native American communities and bridged the communities and the university, providing information between these groups, expanding understanding and knowledge of how research can address health disparit...

In early India, people handcrafted jewellery out of natural materials found in abundance all over the country. Seeds, feathers, leaves, berries, fruits, flowers, animal bones, claws and teeth; everything from nature was affectionately gathered and artistically transformed into fine body jewellery. Even today such jewellery is used by the different tribal societies in India. It appears that both...

BACKGROUND Comprehensive smoke-free laws are effective at protecting non-smokers and reducing tobacco use, yet they are not widely adopted by tribal governments. METHODS A series of smoke-free policy initiatives on the Navajo Nation, beginning in 2008, were reviewed to identify key issues, successes and setbacks. RESULTS It has been essential that proposed policies acknowledge the Navajo pe...

It is believed that the tribal people, who constitute 8.6 per cent of the total population (2011 census of India), are the original inhabitants of India. Glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is an X-linked genetic defect, affecting around 400 million people worldwide and is characterized by considerable biochemical and molecular heterogeneity. Deficiency of this enzyme is highly ...

BACKGROUND Malaria infection accounts for over one million deaths worldwide annually. India has the highest number of malaria deaths outside Africa, with half among Indian tribal communities. Our study sought to identify barriers to malaria control within tribal populations in malaria-endemic Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra. METHODS AND FINDINGS This qualitative study was conducted via focus...