Primary health care in Kerala role of village level health workers (Paperback)

From time immemorial man has been interested in trying to control

diseases. The common man, the priest, the herbalist and the magician, all

adopted various ways to cure man's disease and to bring relief to the sick.

It has been truly said that health is not everything, but everything else is

nothing without health. The explosion of knowledge during the 20th

century has made medicine more complex, the treatment more costly, but

the benefits of modern medicine have not yet penetrated the social

periphery in many countries, creating a chasm between rural and urban

areas, between the rich and poor.

1.1. Context of the study

India is the second most populous country in the world and has

changing socio-political, demographic and morbidity patterns that have

been drawing global attention in recent years. Despite several growthoriented

policies adopted by the government, the widening economic,

regional and gender disparities are posing challenges for the health sector.

As per 2001 census, India's total population is 1,028 million and 72 per

cent of this belongs to rural community. It is estimated that more than

seventy per cent of the health infrastructure and health resources are

concentrated in urban areas, where only 28 per cent of the population lives.