Many times when you are unwell, you must have heard the elders in the family blame it on someone’s ‘evil eye’. In villages, people believe that spirits enter the body of some people and cause them to behave in a strange manner. These are all superstitions. Superstitions are the outcome of fear and ignorance of the causes of many natural and scientific phenomena. Long ago when people did not know about earthquakes they felt that the tremor of the Earth was caused by the steps of an approaching demon! Such ignorance can be dispelled through education.
It can be very dangerous for a person who is unwell to be caught in a web of superstitions. Many infants have lost their lives because of not getting prompt medical help as their illness was attributed to some superstition. In many villages, people with mental illnesses are stoned and beaten black and blue as they are suspected of being possessed by evil spirits. Treatment and diagnosis by qualified doctors is the correct way to deal with such problems.
It is a pity that many villagers do not go to the Primary Health Care and Family Planning Centres due to superstitious beliefs surrounding the treatment offered here. As a result, they lose^out on valuable health care which may even result in the loss of life.