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Similarly, it is observed that there is no fixed day, time, or place for delivery of services in
habitations by ANMs. There is no co-ordination between the AWC, ANM, the village
practitioners and other elected representatives, functionaries or groups in service delivery. Fixed
day services in coordination and complemented by services of other functionaries and the ANM
could significantly improve access, coverage and quality of service delivered.
The practice of giving dry rations instead of cooked food to pregnant women and lactating
mothers in AP and UP may not help the women, as this is likely to be used for the entire
household, particularly in very poor households where overall food availability is low. The
overall health situation of the community and in particular of the children is influenced by
availability (or its lack) to basic healthcare facilities. Interestingly, most mothers report the use of
allopathic medicines for all illnesses that affects their children and rarely herbal medicines and
home remedies. For instance, simple home remedies for scabies seem to have been forgotten or
are seen as being ineffective. In the tribal village of Andhra Pradesh, for instance, several children
had mild to severe scabies. In one of the households the 3-year-old girl had severe scabies on her
scalp. When we told the mother that she could apply Neem and turmeric paste and this would not
only provide immediate relief but also cure the child, her reaction did not convince us that she
might actually do something about it. However, on our final visit to the village 20 days later, she
proudly produced both her children before us. Both the girl and her brother were free of scabies
and the child was smiling. This seems to suggest the need for a concerted effort to retrieve,
revive, and revalidate herbal medicines in the eyes of the people, an intervention that would place
medicine back in the hands of the poor themselves. 10
10 Our research indicates, that traditional health practices of households and communities and alternative
modes of indigenous medicines are fading away among the poor. Although our research mandate precluded
the exploration of the ‘why’ underlying this emerging trend, one can put forth a host of reasons based on
secondary research as well as our experiences in the field. Earlier studies have indicated that the destruction
of forest cover has led to the extinction of certain herbs and hence traditional herbal remedies. Further,
deforestation has further made the task of collecting herbs and making medicines a tedious process. Often
this has meant adulterated traditional medicines leading to reduced faith in them. However, one of the
major blows has come from the pervasiveness of allopathic medicines and its association with modernity,
education, and also status – irrespective of its efficacy in treating certain local ailments. Some also say that
traditional cures, often demand certain dietary restrictions etc. which allopathic medicines do not.
Educational Resource Unit Page 84 April 2003