Abstract

Struggle of Slum Dwellers for Maintaining their Health Status and Behavior in a Slum Pocket of Guwahati City

The deficient transition of the health facilities and services from the state to the local level has made the slum areas neglected at the global as well as at the micro level. Slum dwellers live in an unhygienic and un-sanitized environment on a regular basis. Recurrent floods in the state of Assam especially in the slum areas (our locale of study) create disaster where toilets are used on an emergency basis submerge generally in the floodwater and spread various communicable diseases. Moreover, rural-urban migration of the poor increases the urban slum populations, limits as well as the basic civic amenities and services like sanitation, potable water, electricity, education, among others, deteriorating living conditions of public health at large. However, public and private health services exist in most of the urban areas but are not uniform and acceptable. The government of India Census report reflects that the dwellings of the slum are having insufficient air, light, bathing, improperly heated as well as lack of family privacy and are subject to safety hazards. UN-Habitat however, defines slums as a place of contiguous settlement of people having inadequate housing and basic services. Many scholars conducted studies in third world countries and reflected almost similar views including India as mentioned in the text. Our comprehensive micro study is an attempt to explore the health status, health seeking behavior, health awareness, health promotional measures and their impact on the slum dwellers. How the study would help in policy framing for further improvement of the healthcare services in the slum pockets of Guwahati city is the cause of main concern.

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