Nawa Raj Subba
2023
Nepal is a country of multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-lingual, pluralistic and mosaic society. Ethnic communities have their distinct healing practices. It has been widely felt that access to modern medication in rural and urban communities is very low; despite the service, the government has made outlets available even at the periphery level. Health Care practices - Modern, Traditional, Self-medication, and Alternative are existed in almost every community and are an indispensable part of our health system. Merely establishing Sub-Health Posts and training for Health Workers cannot ensure access to health services and also requires an attempt on the Socio-economic assessment and cultural and behavioural diagnosis. Rajbanshi is one of the ethnic groups living in Nepal's Morang and Jhapa districts. Their estimated population is fairly above 0.1 million (CBS, 1991). This study was an exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional, and qualitative study based on a household survey. The study has assessed the disease prevalence, healing or caring practices and determinants of health-seeking behaviour. This study was undertaken in two Village Development Committees (VDC) of Morang district in 2001 with the Specific objectives of: (1) to discover the practices of using traditional and modern medicine in the community. (2) Assess the satisfaction and dissatisfaction with traditional medicine, modern medicine, or health services. (3) Assess the expenses on health care. (4) Know various self-care methods and types of therapy consumers use. Attempts to make 175 household visits were made by the head of the households, particularly as respondents of the study. A Rajbanshi graduate and one more interviewer were trained before going to the community. With the help of these two-trained interviewers, the researcher carried out interviews and conducted Focus Group Discussions. Major findings Rajbanshi ethnic in Katahari and Baijanathpur VDC were found to have a literacy rate of 6
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