Department Of Anthropology

The World Health Organisation in its new global health estimates on depression for 2015 said over five crore Indians suffered from depression, a major contributor to global suicides. Now a new paradigm of depression is self-destructive online game so called Blue Whale challenge. Recently, Supreme Court (SC) of India ordered to maximise awareness programmes, as it is impossible to stop online deadly games, because it is not based on any application.To addressing this issue, it is vital for both children and their parents to aware of the lethal games. In the present study a modest attempt has been made to examine knowledge, attitude, awareness and impact of self-destructive online games like Blue Whale challengeamong the people of Odisha. A qualitative case study approach has been employed among six victims of Blue Whale challenge from different parts of Odisha for an intensive study. Subsequently, a survey was conducted among school students and households to ascertain the attitude, awareness and its impacts. Results reveal that because of curiosity, many students are trying to goggle out the game even after implementing awareness programmes.

The present study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and awareness towards sickle cell disease (SCD) among the people in Koraput district of Odisha. A qualitative case study approach has been employed among 78 individuals, in which 43 individuals were with sickle cell haemoglobin, in 9 villages of Koraput district, which is one of the most backward districts of the state and predominantly tribal populated one. The villages were selected accordingly to the availability of individuals having sickle cell hemoglobinopathies. More priority was given to those villages which have more numbers individuals with sickle cell hemoglobin and more remote, where medical facilities are not easily assessable. Self-modified pretested schedules were used to assess the knowledge, attitude, and awareness of SCD among the studied population. The study found that 48.7% of the population have a good knowledge and awareness about SCD and this level of knowledge is significantly high among the SCD individuals as compared to the normal individuals or their family members. Improving awareness of the disease and its manifestation will help to alleviate the knowledge level of SCD and would be helpful to reduce the disease burden in the studied population.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by Plasmodium parasites. It is one of the most prevalent disorders worldwide. India ranked the fourth highest number of death cases. The majority of malaria cases are reported from eastern and central part of the country and from states which have forest, hilly and tribal areas. In Odisha more than two third of malaria cases are reported from ten southern district i.e. Koraput, Balangir, Kalahandi. The present study aims to access the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) about malaria among the individuals in Koraput district of Odisha. This is a cross-sectional study and 1369 respondents were recruited randomly from Koraput district. Data regarding demographic and KAP were collected by using pretested schedules. The study found a significant number of respondents have a good knowledge about malaria. However, the attitude and practice to eradicate malaria was not satisfactory. So there found to be a gap between knowledge and practices among the respondents.

Belief in the existence of supernatural powers or other than the visible material world, i.e., the invisible spiritual world, has been long debated. The people believe in a supernatural power (God) and several evil spirits central to various mythology, irrespective of religion. On the other hand, many individuals, including some anthropologists, denied the existence of supernatural beings and evil spirits, which can perplex people's psychology to a more considerable extent in a different spectrum. The present article throws light on a scientific dimension about the existence of supernatural power and spirits along with human being's perceptions towards it. Simultaneously it is tried to focus on how anthropology meets with physics in this concern.

The present article highlights the potential risk of COVID-19 among people with sickle cell genes. The current world is now fighting a pandemic situation due to the COVID-19. In December 2020, a new COVID-19 strain was identified in Britain, and it is 70% more transmissible than the previous strain. According to the world health organization, the third wave may hit several nations by September 2012. If the sickle cell carriers are affected by the second wave or any other mutants of COVID-19 viruses in the upcoming wave, then a severe and lethal condition will arise as people with sickle cell genes are associated with several comorbidities.

The present study aims to determine the prevalence and distribution of sickle cell traits in Koraput district of Odisha along with the financial burden on households. A total of 1092 individuals of either sex, aged above 30 years, were randomly screened. Blood samples from each individual were collected and tested using the sodium metabisulphite (Na2S2O5) technique to determine the presence of the sickled red blood cell. Demographic information and family (n=552) expenditure on health were recorded. The prevalence of sickle cell hemoglobin was found to be 9.43% in the studied population. The sickle cell hemoglobin is widespread in Koraput district of Odisha state and more prevalent in scheduled castes (9.98%) than in tribal groups (3.33 %). The present study observed a tendency for the sickling rate to be higher in people of lower age groups. The average annual healthcare expenditure was very high (3% to 64.4% of the family income) in families with sickle cell hemoglobinopathies. In contrast, the healthcare expenditure was 0.78% to 18.4% in families without sickle cell hemoglobin. Furthermore, the study explored that due to the consanguineal marriage practice, hesitance and social stigma toward sickle cell carrier screening, the genetic load is increasing for the sickle cell trait in the studied population.

Background: Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a protozoan parasite i.e. Plasmodium parasites. It is one of the most prevalent disorders worldwide. India ranked the fourth-highest number of death cases. In Odisha, more than two-thirds of malaria cases are reported from ten southern districts. A high risk of malaria infection is found in Koraput district of Odisha. The present study aims to access the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) about malaria among the individuals of Koraput district, Odisha. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and 258 respondents were taken randomly from five villages of Koraput district. Data on demographics as well as knowledge, attitude, and practices about malaria was collected by using selfmodified and pretested schedules. Results: A significant number of the respondent (97.29%) have reported that they had heard about malaria. 37.60% of respondents answered that they knew it from television, followed by health workers (23.26%) and f...

The present study aims to determine the prevalence and distribution of sickle cell traits in Koraput district of Odisha along with the financial burden on households. A total of 1092 individuals of either sex, aged above 30 years, were randomly screened. Blood samples from each individual were collected and tested using the sodium metabisulphite (Na2S2O5) technique to determine the presence of the sickled red blood cell. Demographic information and family (n=552) expenditure on health were recorded. The prevalence of sickle cell hemoglobin was found to be 9.43% in the studied population. The sickle cell hemoglobin is widespread in Koraput district of Odisha state and more prevalent in scheduled castes (9.98%) than in tribal groups (3.33 %). The present study observed a tendency for the sickling rate to be higher in people of lower age groups. The average annual healthcare expenditure was very high (3% to 64.4% of the family income) in families with sickle cell hemoglobinopathies. In...

Women as a child bearer are an important constituent in fertility studies. Decision making process is generally influenced by the level of education, type of family and present age of women, women of younger age group has less autonomy as compared to women of an older age group. The present study is undertaken to analyse theDecision-Making Power and Female autonomy among ever married Santal women in the convectional age group 15-49 who were selected from the tribal population of Purbi Singhbhum district, Jharkhand. The decision making processes were found to be depended on current age of the women,family type and education of the women.Decisions like availing family practices and having more children, own health care were significantly dependent on education. 48% of variance in decision regarding own health care can be explained by the education of the women .A 65% and 60% variance in education contributes to the decision to avail family planning measures and decision of having children.

India as a developing nation, made an enormous and extensive effort to reduce maternal mortality and to also increase the accessibility of reproductive health services. Despite of all the efforts, progress is uneven and inequitable as many women still lack the access. The factors associated with the utilisation of maternal health care services among 919 currently married women (15-31 years) belonging to Santal, Mahli, Oraon and Ho tribe of Purbi Singhbhum district of rural Jharkhand is discussed. Three components of maternal and child health care service utilization was measured: adequate pregnancy care, institutional delivery and full immunization of the new born. Selected demographic factors like women's education, autonomy, son preference, and waiting time to conception influencing outcome events were considered as predictor variables. Overall, 64.9 percentage of women received an adequate pregnancy care, 59.5 percentage had institutional delivery and 25.6 percentage of women had their child fully immunized. The results from both bivariate and multivariate analyses confirmed the importance of women's education and women's age and autonomy for the utilization of maternal and child health care services.

In the context of Indian social system, Parents in general expect son but not daughters to provide financial and emotional care, especially in their old age as sons add to family wealth and property, continue the lineage and defend or exercise family power. Daughters on the other hand have to be defended and protected in order to protect and maintain one’s own respect. Keeping this in view the present study investigated the desired family size and preference for son and their social and economic determinants were studied. Using the interview schedules, the data on gender preference and fertility was collected from 1000 ever married women in the age group of 15-49 years among the tribes of Santal and Oraon from 15 villages in Golmuri cum Jugsalai and Potka blocks of Purbi Singhbhum District, Jharkhand. A strong preference of sons has resulted in skewed sex ratio among all children born to Santal and Oraon women. The mean sex ratio for Santal and Oraon children is 877 girls per 1000 boys and 850 girls per 1000 boys respectively. The binary logistic regression analysis indicated that the actual proportion of sons was significantly affected by education among women, her last birth interval, and her age at marriage. A strong son preference was seen to be prevalent among families of low socio economic status than families in lower middle class and middle class. Oraon women having their last birth interval of less than and equal to 20 months were three times more likely to prefer sons than women with their last birth interval of more than 20 months (significant at p value<0.001 during Bivariate analysis).

The intercommunication between kinship system and demographic outcomes serves as wealthiest areas for theoretical and substantive work in anthropological demography. Changes in kin networks help in explaining the changing reproductive outcomes. The demographic individual ages but does not develop once born but is instead defined by series of demographic events namely marriage, childbearing and death. Individuals grow and differentiate with their converging and diverging network of kins. Countries on the road to modernization experiences kin breakdown and a strong adherence with non-relatives affecting economic decisions surrounding parenthood. Paternal kin and particularly maternal kin play an important role in shaping the reproductive preferences and behaviour among young adults. However not much is known about influence of intra-family relationship on reproductive decisions. The present paper investigates the impact of kin on female fertility including breastfeeding duration, institutional delivery and contraceptive uptake. A difference in the reproductive output of kin can be seen for women than the woman does for herself. A cross sectional study based on 1000 ever married Santal and Mahli women in the age group of 15-49 years was conducted in fifteen villages of Purbi Singhbhum District, Jharkhand through random selection of households. Living with kin influences a delay in contraceptive uptake, early marriage of couples and shortening of breastfeeding duration. The breastfeeding duration was seen shorter for couples who desired more children. Women in neolocal residence have greater autonomy in their decision making than women marrying into joint family system's household are in a relatively weak positions in terms of making decisions for herself and her child.