Empowering Folk Healers

In India, rural populations have very limited access to public and private health care services. The per capita GDP allocation for health by the Central and State Governments have remained less than 2% in the country. Studies indicate that the citizens spend four times more than what the Government spends on their healthcare. Health related expenditure constitutes second most important cause of rural indebtedness.

While this situation shows a grim picture of the country, the folk healers located across the country on the other hand offer a respite. It is estimated that about 12 lakhs of folk healers are practicing across the country. These Folk healers who are known to manage many kinds of simple to complex health conditions, from common cold to cough, from common fever to jaundice, and from poisonous bites to bone fractures etc, are the carriers of the indigenous health traditions. Despite their strength, these folk health traditions are largely witnessing continuous erosion, due to western mode of education system, lack of policy support, institutional and social backing, and proper recognition by the Government.

In this context, in order to address the needs of the Traditional knowledge carriers and to provide a forum for sharing their traditional knowledge, skills and experiences, FRLHT has initiated novel strategies in the form of folk healers' associations across the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu. The State and District level conventions of the folk healers in the past, organized through these associations were successful in bringing together the talents scattered across the country. These Conventions also recognized the outstanding folk healers and their significant contribution to the health care services to the rural communities.

Since 2001, FRLHT these associations have further organized themselves into 103  associations at the level of Taluka/ Mandal/ Block, with an apex association at the state level across the states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa and Tamilnadu. This is in order to provide a stake-holder owned institutional linkage and collective identity to take the agenda for revitalisation of local health traditions in a sustainable manner. During the year 2007-08 the formation of the associations continued and the at the end of the year, the status was as follows:

No.of Folk Healers' Associations(FHAs) constituted As on 31st March 2008

State	No. of FHAs
Tamil Nadu	22
Andhra Pradesh	11
Orissa	7
Karnataka	6
Maharashtra	3
Kerala	2
Total	51

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