1st Edition
Environment and Health in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Historical and Contemporary Scenario
This engaging book presents an insightful look into the contributing factors that have shaped the modern public health system in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Reflecting on the historical, socio-economic, and contemporary scenario of environment and public health, this book presents chapters that discuss the role of spatial patterns of diseases, health-risk patterns, contributions of medical missionaries in health services in Kashmir, changing disease ecology of Leh, and traditional medical therapy in Ladakh, among others.
This book also examines the cholera ecology in Kashmir during the 19th century, and the significance of Kangri ・ a portable traditional heat source ・ in cultural studies, economics, and cancer research. It investigates the role of traditional knowledge in the medical therapy of rural areas of Ladakh and the impact of urbanization on the quality of human health in Srinagar City. Besides, this book examines iodine deficiency disorders and the extension of vector-borne diseases. The essays also probe into the rising mental health concerns in post-pandemic Kashmir.
This book will be useful for students, researchers, and teachers of physical geography, human geography, environmental studies, public health, and health sciences. It will also be of interest to political geographers, sociologists, policymakers, and those interested in the issues related to health and environment in the region.
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
1 Environment and Health in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh: Historical and Contemporary Scenario
RAIS AKHTAR
2 Environment and Cholera in Kashmir during 19th Century
RAIS AKHTAR
3 Dr Henry Cayley’s Pioneering Medical Work in Ladakh
JOHN BRAY
4 Arthur Neve (1859–1919) and a Mission Hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir
RAIS AKHTAR
5 Kangri: Environment, Culture, Economics and Convenience in the Valley of Kashmir
RAIS AKHTAR
6 Environment and Health in Kashmir during 19th Century
RAIS AKHTAR
7 Changing Diseases Ecology of Leh District: Contemporary Scenario and Historical Perspective
RAIS AKHTAR
8 Traditional Medical Therapy in Rural Ladakh – A Regional Analysis
G. M. RATHER
9 Environmental Compulsions of Pesticide Application in Kashmir and its Impacts on Orchardists
ISHTIAQ AHMAD MAYER, BASHIR A. LONE, MANZOOR A. WANI AND SHERAZ A. LONE
10 Urbanization and Quality of Human Health in Srinagar City, Jammu and Kashmir
ARSHAD AHMAD LONE, G. M. RATHER AND M. SULTAN BHAT
11 IDD (Iodine Deficiency Disorders) Scenario in Jammu Province of J&K, India
RAJIV KUMAR GUPTA AND SUNIL K RAINA
12 Extension of Vector-Borne Diseases into J&K State of India
SUNIL KUMAR RAINA AND RAJIV KUMAR GUPTA
13 Extreme Weather Events: Floods and Disease Risks in Kashmir (Jammu & Kashmir). A Case Study of Srinagar Floods
BUPINDER ZUTSHI
14 Perception of Urban Health Hazards in Srinagar, India
RAIS AKHTAR
15 Health Care Behaviour in Western Himalayas: A Case Study of Udhampur Forest Villagers in Jammu and Kashmir
ANURADHA SHARMA, SANDEEP SINGH, AND DAVINDER SINGH
16 Health-seeking Behaviour among the Hanjis of Dal Lake, Kashmir, India
MUSHTAQ A. KUMAR, SHAZIA MEHRAJ AND DR. G.M. RATHER
17 Spatial Disease Pattern and its Correspondence with Geographical Factors of Jammu Region, J&K India
SUBHASH CHANDER SHARMA
18 Food Insecurity in Rural Areas of Bandipore District, Jummu & Kashmir, India
RAIS AKHTAR
19 Coronavirus Outbreaks in Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh
RAIS AKHTAR AND ARSHAD AHMAD LONE
20 Levels of Malnutrition by Altitude Based on Body Mass Index (BMI) among School Children (14–18 years) in Gujjar Community of Greater Kashmir Himalayas
G. M. RATHER
21 Comparative Profile of COVID-19 Mortality in Jammu versus Kashmir Provinces in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir
RAJIV K GUPTA, SHASHI SUDHAN SHARMA, RICHA MAHAJAN AND TALAT JABEEN
22 Mental Health Assessment of Recovered COVID-19 Patients: A Case Study of Srinagar City
AISHA DEV, M. IMRAN GANAIE, AABIDA, AFSHAN NABI AND ISHTIAQ A. MAYER
23 Conclusion and Suggestions
RAIS AKHTAR
Biography
Prof. Rais Akhtar has taught at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; the University of Zambia, Lusaka; and the University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. He is the first geographer who published his research in medical geography and climate change and health in national and international journals, including the prestigious medical journal The Lancet. He has published to his credit more than 100 research papers and 21 books in India and abroad, including Greenwood Press, New York; Harwood Academic publisher, London; and Springer. His books include Health and Disease in Tropical Africa: Medical and Geographical Viewpoints (London, 1987), Health Care Patterns and Planning in Developing Countries (1990), Malaria in South Asia (2010), Climate Change and Human Health Scenario in South and Southeast Asia (2016), Climate Change and Air Pollution (2018), Extreme Weather Events and Human Health (2020), Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreaks, Environment and Human Behaviour (2021) and Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreaks, Vaccination, Politics and Society: The Continuing Challenge (2022). Prof. Rais Akhtar is the recipient of a number of international fellowships including Leverhulme Overseas Visiting Fellow (University of Liverpool); Henry Chapman Fellow, University of London; Commonwealth Secretariat Fellowship, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London; Visiting Fellow, University of Sussex and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Royal Society Short Visiting Fellowship, University of Oxford; Visiting Professor, University of Paris, Nanterre, Paris-10; Visiting Fellowship, Free University of Brussels, Belgium; French Government Visiting Fellowship and MSH Visiting Fellow, Paris; Visiting Fellow, Welcome Trust, London; and Visiting Lecturer, University of Akron, USA.
