Without Her – is it possible ?
‘Garibi ke karan khareed nahi pate hain. Humare ghar mein koi machardani mein nahi sota’. (we are unable to buy due to poverty. Nobody in our house sleeps under a bed-net). Says a tribal woman of age above 50 years from Dumka in Jharkhand. Jharkhand is one of the highly affected states from mosquito-borne diseases including Malaria, Filaria, Japanese encephalitis, etc. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) remain neglected as they affect the poor, marginalized, and underserved sections of society the most. However, the vector – the mosquito does its job of spreading the parasite without any discrimination towards caste, community, or gender; therefore, it is high time for us to recognize the burden of the disease that women carry silently on their shoulders directly and indirectly. At Project Concern International we are working towards eliminating NTDs from India. When our team reached out to interact with more than 80 tribal women in Dumka and Godda districts of Jharkhand, to underst