Background: Maternal health is of paramount concern all over the world and has been a priority in India as well with the maternal health programs evolving over the time, addressing new arenas and overcoming challenges to reach the Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) target with quality. (1) In tribal areas various barriers in health seeking behavior are impediments towards maternal health.Methods: An explorative qualitative study was undertaken in a tribal area of Srinagar, Kashmir, which is a rural field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine Government Medical College, Srinagar. Focus group discussion (FGD) and in-depth interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the FGD and in-depth interview data.Results: The data analysis generated following five themes: Theme 1: Perceptions and practices among tribal pregnant women in Faqir Gujree area. Theme 2: Socio-cultural influences, attitude and beliefs. Theme 3: Health system related barriers. Theme 4: Community related barriers. Theme 5: Cultural barriers among the pregnant women.Conclusions: There is a need of continuous behaviour change communication (BCC) with pregnant women and community members. In addition to addressing these issues, the health system related issues need to be addressed and improved in order to improve access to health care facilities by these pregnant women. Thus, a comprehensive tribal-sensitive health care system incorporating the above cultural issues is required to improve the health care access among these vulnerable ANC patients.

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BACKGROUND: Existential anxiety (EA) revolves around the question of ultimate concern related to life and death. It gets more prominent when there is an exposure to stressful experiences where the stress is profound and resources seem insufficient. The objective was to measure the prevalence and magnitude of EA in the study population from the Kashmir valley during the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected through social media. All the participants belonging to the Kashmir valley were included. EA questionnaire developed by Weems et al. was used. RESULTS: A total of 132 subjects were included. The prevalence of EA concerns was death 55%, fate 62%, emptiness 73%, meaninglessness 32%, guilt 55%, and condemnation 64%. The mean EA score was 5.0. EA was higher in those who had been diagnosed with mental illness ever in their life by a psychiatrist than those who had no such history. EA score was much higher in those who had ever felt a need to visit a psychiatrist than those who had not. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean scores of EA for those who never felt this need and those who felt this need since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: There was a high prevalence of EA in the study population from the Kashmir valley. Relative concerns were more prevalent than absolute concerns. EA score was higher among those who had mental health issues compared to others.

BACKGROUND: India is all set to begin vaccination against COVID-19. A good number of people are falling prey to anti-vaccination campaigns, and therefore, some amount of vaccine hesitancy must have developed. The primary objective of the study was to find the level of potential COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Kashmiri population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the valley of Kashmir. A predesigned questionnaire was shared online. The participation of respondents was voluntary. Exclusions were made on account of residence outside Kashmir valley, duplicate forms, and wrong information. The data were entered into Microsoft Excel 2010 and analyzed using SPSS version 23. RESULTS: A total of 487 respondents were included. About 67% of the participants were in the age group of ≤30 years, 55% female, 54% rural, and 16% had ever been COVID-19 positive. About 14% of the participants were completely hesitant about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, whereas 40% were unsure if they will accept the vaccination. The main reason for the total nonacceptance of the vaccine was the doubts about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines (67%). Urban people were more likely to be hesitant to the vaccine than rural people (odds ratio [OR] 1.845, confidence interval CI 1.022 to 3.333). Those who were ever COVID-19 positive were 3.3 times more likely to say “no” to COVID-19 vaccination than those who were never positive. CONCLUSION: Strategic steps must be taken to minimize the vaccine hesitancy associated with COVID-19 vaccination. Authorities should direct efforts toward vaccine education, creating awareness among people about the importance of COVID-19 vaccination.

Background: According to world health organization (WHO), exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first 6 months of life is vital for optimal growth and development of a child. During this period, other liquids or breastfeeding substitutes should not be given to infants except for medicine or oral rehydration solution. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the child health clinic of the department of community medicine, SKIMS. The study participants were mothers accompanying their infants coming for immunisation at the child health centre. A semi-structured, questionnaire was used to interview the mothers regarding breast feeding practices of their infants. The data was entered in Microsoft excel 2010 and analysed using SPSS Version 20. Results: The prevalence of EBF was 38.7%. Mixed feeding was received by 54% and 7.3% were formula-fed. Variables that were significantly associated with EBF include residence and mother’s education. Infants from rural area were more likely to be exclusively breastfed compared to those from urban area (OR=0.365; 95% CI=0.166-0.802; p=0.012). Mothers with up to 9 years of formal education were more likely to exclusively breastfed their children than those with more than 9 years of formal education (OR=0.300;95% CI=0.121-0.744, p=0.009). Conclusions: To ensure that the rate of EBF among the mothers is increased, all the stakeholders (spouse, family and government) as well as the people at work place must play their part to the best extent.