| Issue/Objective |
The Constitution of Nepal (2015) has articulated basic health care as a fundamental right of its citizens. This is a case study of Chepangs who are socio-politically and culturally marginalized indigenous communities in Raksirang, Makwanpur. The ethnographic field research aims to explore inclusive local health policies, how the communities experience illness and health, and their access to health care services at large. |
| Methodology/Approach |
The approach is an ethnographic fieldwork that includes participant observations, in-depth interviews, participatory social mapping, case studies, and informal interactions with mothers, health workers, female community health volunteers, political leaders, civil society representatives, school teachers and community representatives. |
| Results |
The narrative analysis of telling and retelling of stories open up new perspectives on the illness and health experiences of the communities in terms of silences, collective consciousness, indigenous knowledge and ritual practices to heal the social sufferings from illness and experience adaptive mechanisms in their families and communities. Local government's inclusive health policies and social protection services are not adequate and well regulated to ensure unmet health care needs of the communities. |
| Discussion/Conclusion |
Health and illness narratives among poor, indigenous and socially marginalized communities are largely considered as embodied experiences of their illness and health conditions. Their motivations, incentives, and capacities for demanding health care are shaped by social structures, cultural norms, agency, belongingness, and silences. Local government needs to strengthen their inclusive health polices and actions to enhance communities' access to basic health care. |
| Presenters and affiliations |
Jhabindra Bhandari Central Department of Anthropology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal |
