Health-Seeking Behavior and Social Contract: A Qualitative Study on Manipuri People’s Perception of Health and Healthcare System

The study tries to show the nature of health-seeking behavior and practices of Manipuri people and the type of social contract between Manipuri people and formal healthcare system. As an indigenous community Manipuri people are thought to be dependent on traditional healthcare system, previous literatures also support this hypothesis. But reality changes with time, in present time, there is no worth mentionable traditional healing system among Manipuri people in Kamalganj, Moulvibazar. As a result, Manipuri people have to follow the traditional healthcare system which includes public and private hospitals, Upazilla health complexes, community clinics, pharmacies, etc. So, it is necessary to explore the nature of social contract through which the people of the Manipuri community and the healthcare center are connected to each other. It helps to shed light on the barriers they encounter in the health sector. Social contracts refer to the nature of social relationship people have to maintain social settings and social solidarity. A contract requires two parties. Here Manipuri people are one party and formal healthcare center is another party. There is a saying “Health is the root of all happiness”. So, to explore the real scenario of a fundamental rights like health of Manipuri people, this qualitative research has investigated the believe and perception of health and healthcare system of Manipuri people and explains the co-relation between their free-will and way of choosing their mode of treatment.