Usual Source of Treatment in Northeast India

Abstract

The northeast India comprises of eight states with great socio-cultural and geo-political diversity. The region is home of several ethnic groups, quite sensitive to illegal immigration and insurgency infected. Thus, an attempt is made to understand how the health seeking behavior varies under such diversity. For the study National Family Health Survey 2005-06 data have been used. Appropriate bi-variate and multi-variate statistical techniques have been applied to draw meaningful conclusions. In entire northeast India, the percentage of households who usually avail treatment from public healthcare centres is much higher than the national average. Dependence on public healthcare centres is highest in Mizoram and Sikkim, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, whereas it is lowest in the state of Nagaland. In all the states main reasons for usually not seeking treatment from public healthcare centres is ‘no facility nearby’, ‘poor quality of care’ and ‘long waiting time’.