Primitive superstitions and a strong belief in black magic among the tribals are hampering effective health care in the north east. "The belief in age-old superstitions and sorcery are still integral to many tribal customs and that is affecting health workers’ bid to reach out to the remotest corners of the region," Assam Health Minister, Bhumidhar Barman says.

"We are forced to take help from local community leaders and religious heads to assist health educators in their attempts at immunizing children and in other health campaigns," he added. A recent five-day anti-polio drive in Assam and Meghalaya that concluded this month has come a cropper with many parents not allowing health workers immunize their children.

"Some 60,000 children in Assam and Meghalaya were left out of the anti-polio drive with parents and guardians not allowing nurses to administer oral drops," a health official said. In some tribal dominated areas, village chiefs wrote to health workers saying administering polio drops would cause "infertility" in their children.

"It is a tragedy that such ancient beliefs are coming in the way of preventing killer diseases," the minister said. The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a note to the two states warning of a likely outbreak of widespread wild polio virus infection later this year or by early 2004 in the region.

The WHO warning followed the detection of a fresh wild polio case in Assam. The two governments were asked by the WHO to do a house-to-house mop-up polio immunization drive irrespective of whether a child was administered polio drops earlier. About 600,000 children in the age group of zero to five were to be immunized but then up to 60,000 children could not be administered with polio drops due to non-cooperation from guardians.

"Our health workers face problems in even treating common diseases like dysentery with people saying it is not an ailment but demons that actually cause the sickness," the minister said. "As a doctor, I have faced this problem many times in remote areas," he said. Assam is the worst hit by incidents of killings related to witchcraft and sorcery — up to 200 people have been killed by rural mobs during the past five years for allegedly practicing witchcraft.

"We need to create awareness and launch a drive to stop this kind of killings triggered by superstitious beliefs, besides affecting health workers’ efforts in reaching out to the needy," Barman said.

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