About 550 tribal healers trained on public health referrals in Hyderabad

About 550 tribal healers are being trained in Hyderabad on common diseases, danger signs and when to refer patients to formal healthcare, in what the Ministry of Tribal Affairs calls the first national programme of its kind.

The two-day National Orientation Programme for Tribal Healers on Public Health, on 1–2 November at Kanha Shanti Vanam, is run with the ICMR–National Institute of Health Research (ICMR-NIHR), Bhubaneswar, under the Janjatiya Health Institutional Transformation (JanHIT) initiative. Additional Secretary Manish Thakur and ICMR-NIHR Director Sanghamitra Pati inaugurated it on the first day of the Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas Pakhwada.

Who and what

Healers were nominated by state tribal welfare departments from nine states and Union Territories: Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Keralam, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Three modules cover communicable and vector-borne diseases, skin diseases, non-communicable diseases, blood and liver disorders and mental health. Sessions also teach referral for snakebites, stings, animal bites, injuries, eye and ear problems, oral health, and newborn and infant care.

Experts from AIIMS, ICMR and other institutions will teach in regional languages. There will be a post-training assessment and certificates at the closing ceremony on 2 November.

The ministry said the aim is to link tribal community practices with the formal medical system.

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Source: official release by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, issued through the Press Information Bureau, Government of India (02 NOV 2026 11:28AM by PIB Delhi). Read the full official text: National Orientation Programme for Tribal Healers on Public Health, Kanha Shanti Vanam, Hyderabad.