• ARUGOLANU RAJU
• Prof. T.V. Krishna

According to the 2011 census of India, about 8.6% of the total population of India was recorded as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) population. The entire tribal population is grouped into 705 subgroups /sub-categories/ sub-communities, including about 75 primitive tribal communities. Most of the ST population is distributed in central India and northeastern India. The ST population in India and also in Andhra Pradesh shows stagnant or diminishing population size, low level of literacy rate, particularly in women, isolation from the mainstream population, dwelling in remote areas, inaccessible hilly terrain, and finally, unaffected by the developmental process undergoing in India. Health is an important determinant of economic growth and a component of the population's well-being. India’s National Health Policy (NHP) declared in 1983 that a holistic (Primary health care) approach was adopted to ensure Health for All (HEA) through the provisioning of Sub Centres (SCs), Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs), district/civil hospitals and medical institutions. The challenges of the health sector in tribal regions include inadequate access to basic healthcare services, such as a shortage of medical professionals, paramedical staff, laboratories, and nurses. In this context, this paper attempts to study the availability and accessibility of medical and healthcare facilities in the tribal region of Visakhapatnam district.

Population, Scheduled Tribe, Literacy, Religion, Mandals, Health Centers, Health infrastructure facilities

"Availability and Accessibility of Medical and Healthcare Facilities in the Tribal Regions of Visakhapatnam District", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 2, page no.h173-h186, February-2025, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2502723.pdf

"Availability and Accessibility of Medical and Healthcare Facilities in the Tribal Regions of Visakhapatnam District", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 2, page no. pph173-h186, February-2025, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2502723.pdf