The government on Monday launched a first-of-its-kind online platform containing “comprehensive” health and nutrition-related information about the country’s tribal population which, officials say, will help in making evidence-based policies for Scheduled Tribes. The portal will bridge the existing knowledge and drive evidence-based policy making which will lead to overall improvements in the health and nutrition status of the tribal population, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said during the launch.

The portal presents data curated from multiple sources for the 177 identified high-priority tribal districts such as National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and Health Management Information System of the health ministry and other government databases. “Data related to literacy rate in these districts, tribal population, number of households below the poverty line, sex ratio, female literacy, women work participation rate, health centres etc are available on the dashboard,” an official said.

“The is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive platform which makes district-wise data about tribal health available for policymaking,” he said.     Maternal mortality, under-five mortality and malnutrition rates are higher among tribal groups. Also, there is a higher prevalence of malaria, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases. The absence of data specific to the tribal communities hampers the government’s efforts to improve overall tribal health and nutrition scenario.