Can Integrated Watershed Management Contribute to Improvement of Public Health? A Cross-Sectional Study from Hilly Tribal Villages in India

Sandeep S. Nerkar, Ashish Pathak, Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg and Ashok J. Tamhankar
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Sandeep S. Nerkar: Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health (IHCAR), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SE 171 77, Sweden
Ashish Pathak: Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health (IHCAR), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SE 171 77, Sweden
Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg: Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health (IHCAR), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SE 171 77, Sweden
Ashok J. Tamhankar: Department of Public Health Sciences, Global Health (IHCAR), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SE 171 77, Sweden

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Tribal people living in hilly areas suffer from water scarcity in many parts of the world, including India. Water scarcity adversely impacts all aspects of life, including public health. Implementation of an Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) can help solve the problems arising out of water scarcity in such areas. However, the knowledge about and views of the water scarcity sufferers on the public health implications of IWMP have not been well documented. This cross-sectional study was performed in six purposively selected tribal villages located in Maharashtra, India. In three of the villages IWMP had been implemented (IWMV), but not in the other three (NWMV). The head of each household in all villages was interviewed using a questionnaire covering various public health aspects relevant to the villages. A total of 286/313 (92%) households participated in the study. Compared to NWMV, respondents in IWMV experienced significantly lesser prolonged water scarcity (OR = 0.39), had greater number of toilets (OR = 6.95), cultivated more variety of crops (OR = 2.61), had lower migration (OR = 0.59), higher number of girls continuing education (OR = 3.04) and better utilized modern healthcare facilities in the antenatal, natal and postnatal period (OR = 3.75, 2.57, 4.88 respectively). Thus, tribal people in IWMP-implemented villages reported advantages in many aspects of public health.

Keywords: integrated watershed management; public health; tribal villages (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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