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Orissa and Jharkhand States are in the historically neglected regions of Eastern India. A large percentage of the population live in scattered rural communities where there is limited infrastructure, making it difficult for people to access health services.
25% of the population belong to socially and economically marginalised tribal groups, which face particular challenges in accessing health care due to language and cultural differences. As a result, these communities suffer from high rates of infectious diseases such as TB and malaria, and high mortality rates due to lack of access to information and services.
Target TB is working with Alternative for India Development (AID) in the East and West Singhbhum districts of Jharkhand and Mayurbhanj district of Orissa.
Together we are bringing lifesaving access to TB information, diagnosis and treatment services to otherwise unreached remote and tribal communities.
As of February 2011, we have just been awarded a grant to extend the services offered by our mobile clinics to test and treat for Malaria as well as TB - ensuring that our work tackles two life threatening diseases with the same resources.
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The proportion of people living below the poverty line in this region is nearly double the all India average.
In Orissa, scheduled Castes and Tribes add up to around 39% of the total population. Some of the important tribes are Santhal, Bonda, Munda, Oraon, Kora and Mahali.
Jharkhand has a population of just under 27million. Here, 32 distinct tribal groups make up just over a quarter of all people.
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