ASHA Full Form:- Asha stands for recognized social health workers. Asha is a woman who has received training to serve as a health teacher and promoter in their neighborhood. They are referred to as health workers by Indian Mohfw, which raise awareness about health and its social determinants and encourage local health plans and increase in use and accountability of available health services. The objective of the recognized social health worker (Asha) program is to connect the low-service population to the healthcare system. In India, the goal was to establish “Asha in every village”. At that time, the Health Minister of India, Anbumani Ramdas, launched the initiative in 2005, and full implementation was planned for 2012.
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The full form of Asha is Accredited Social Health Activist. ASHAs are local women who are trained to act as health educators and promoters in their communities. Also, Elected by and accountable to the community, the ASHA will be trained to serve as an interface between the community and the public health system. Currently, there are over 9 lakh ASHAs. ASHA scheme is currently implemented in 33 states and union territories (except Goa, Chandigarh, and Puducherry). The role of an ASHA is that of a care provider at the community level. It involves a mix of actions: Facilitating access to health care services, creating awareness about rights to health care, especially among the poor and marginalized, promoting healthy behavior and collective action for better health outcomes mobilizing action.
Contents
Roles and Responsibilities: ASHA Full Form
- Encouraging women to give birth in medical facilities,
- To take children to vaccination clinics.
- Promotion of family planning (for example, surgical vasectomy).
- Using first aid to treat simple illnesses and injuries.
- Data entry on population and increasing village cleanliness.
- Thanks to ASHA, the healthcare system, and the rural population can communicate effectively.
- An ASHA supply acts as a depot holding which is conveniently provided to all habitations, such as Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS) Therapy, Iron Folic Acid (IFA) Tablets, Chloroquine, Disposable Delivery Kits (DDK), Oral Pills, and Condoms. ,
- Promotion of breastfeeding, efficient birth attendance, disease prevention, etc.
- Community densification efforts include health, nutrition, and other relevant government initiatives.
- Providing medicines for conditions like malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhea, ante-natal and post-natal care, institutional delivery, vaccination, diabetes testing, family planning, etc.
- Screening for malaria diagnosis, pregnancy survey, and health-related problems.
- Involvement in community health and related activities as well as planning for the health of the community.
Selection Criteria
- Women who live in the village where they have been selected to work as ASHAs and who are expected to live there in the near future should form the majority of their workforce.
- Women who are already married, widowed, or divorced like women who haven’t since Indian cultural norms say that after getting married a woman should go to her husband’s village or home instead of living in her own home.
- ASHA is required to have completed class X, however, this condition can be relaxed if competent, literate candidates are not available.
- Their ideal age range is between 25 to 45.
- The village panchayat elects them and holds them responsible (local government).
- It should be literate and should have completed at least 10th standard in formal education. To further their career, preference should be given to females in class XII if they are motivated and interested. This is because they can be admitted to ANM/GNM schools later.
- It is important to strike a balance between education and underrepresented group representation.
- He must have social and family support to be able to find time to complete his tasks.
- To better serve under-served populations, it is important to guarantee adequate representation from those groups.
- So, ASHAs must be able to engage in the community and have strong leadership abilities. He should also be fluent in the language of the region and population he is expected to serve.
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Eligibility
- The ASHA should be predominantly a female resident of the village selected for the service, who is likely to remain in that village for the foreseeable future.
- Married, widowed, or divorced women are preferred over women who are not yet married because Indian cultural norms dictate that after marriage a woman leaves her village and goes with her husband.
- She should be a literate woman, the preference for selection is that they should have qualified up to class X.
- He is preferably between the age of 25 and 45 years.
- Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) through a rigorous process of selection involving various community groups, self-help groups, Anganwadi institutions, block nodal officers, district nodal officers, village health committees, and gram sabhas (local government) will be selected.
Recognized Social Health Worker (Asha) Benefits Package: ASHA Full Form
- Also, Under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Asha and Asha Sahayikas (Life Insurance) will be covered. The age limit for eligibility is 18 to 70 years. Benefits include the following: Rs. 2 lakhs in the event of death due to the accident, coverage is for one year from 1 June to 31 May.
- Full and permanent loss of both eyes, loss of both hands or feet, or loss of vision in one eye, as well as loss of one hand or one leg in the event of loss of 2 lakhs.
- One lakh rupees in the event of complete and irreversible blindness in one eye or loss of one hand or one leg use.
- Instead of the current Rs 1000 per month award for regular work, Asha will now get a minimum of Rs 2000 per month. It will be effective in October 2018. Additionally, various working-based awards have been approved at the Center/State level.
Asha Access
Rural areas:
A community health worker, also known as Asha (recognized social health worker), is present in each city of 1000 inhabitants. Depending on local conditions, because they relate to its recruitment, states have the discretion to relax population norms and educational needs on an individual basis.
Urbanized Area
- Before selecting an ASHA, it is important that the City/District Health Society conducts a vulnerability assessment of slum dwellers or slum-like conditions and then identifies these “slum/vulnerable groups” for the purpose of selecting the ASHA. Identify it.
- Usually, one ASHA will be selected in an urban area for every 1000-2500 inhabitants. An ASHA can cover between 200 and 500 households because households in an urban setting are usually distributed over a fairly narrow geographic area, depending on geographic location.
- So, One more ASHA can be empaneled if the population covered is more than 2500. ASHA’s “slum/vulnerable groups” may be selected on a smaller population when there is geographic dispersion of socioeconomically marginalized groups or scattered settlements.
- If more than one ethnic or vulnerable group is present in a given geographical area, it would be better to select more than one ASHA below the specified population norm.
- In such a situation, an ASHA can be handpicked especially for the vulnerable group and among them to meet their unique needs through a proper understanding of the sociocultural customs of that community.
- To provide door-to-door service, the selected ASHA should preferably co-establish the Anganwadi Centers that operate at the slum level.
- Like rural areas, urban communities with a population of 50,000 or fewer should elect an ASHA.
- This can also be accomplished using community volunteers who have built under other government programs.
Asha Facility: ASHA Full Form
For every 10 to 25 Ashes, there is an ASHA facilitator as part of a support structure to offer direction. Mentorship, and performance evaluation. He is an important component of the network of support systems. States have made significant progress in setting up support structures over the past three years as they become more aware of the link between strong support structures and a successful ASHA program. Typically, representatives of the ashrams themselves are chosen to serve as facilitators. ASHAs who meet the necessary requirements in terms of education. Training and competence can use this job as a springboard for their career.
Also, Every month, the ASHA facilitator conducts around 20 supervisory visits. The Supervisory Travel Fee for ASHA Facilitators has increased from Rs. Rs 250 per trip. 300 per journey with effect from October 2018 to incentivize them to perform better (to be paid in November 2018). Also, as a result, ASHA facilitators will get around Rs 6000 per month.
The following is a general summary of what ASHA facilitators do:
- Visit villages, including home visits with ASHA. And conduct meetings with the community and VHSNC. And participate in village health and nutrition days.
- Every month, organize a cluster meeting for all the ASHs in the region.
- Help Ash reach the most underprivileged homes.
- Support block-level ASHA training.
- Help recruit new ASHAs.
- Help resolve complaints.
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FAQs on ASHA Full form
What is the role of ASHA workers?
The ASHA will mobilize the community and facilitate them to access health and health-related services available in the village/sub-center/primary health centers, such as Immunization, Antenatal Checkup (ANC), Postnatal Checkup (PNC), ICDS, Sanitation, and other services provided by the Govt.
Is Asha a government employee?
An Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) is a community health worker employed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) as a part of India’s National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The mission began in 2005; Full implementation was targeted for 2012.
Who launched Asha?
India launched the ASHA program in 2005–06 as part of the National Rural Health Mission.
What is ANM in ASHA?
An auxiliary nurse midwife or nurse midwife, commonly known as ANM, is a village-level female health worker in India known as the first contact person between the community and health services.
What is the pay scale of an ASHA worker?
Also, ASHA workers are paid a fixed monthly salary of Rs 4,000 by the state government and Rs 2,000 by the central government and other incentives.
Which state does not have any ASHA workers?
Goa:
There are about 10.4 lakh ASHA workers across the country. The largest workforce of ASHA workers is in states with high populations – Uttar Pradesh (1.63 lacks), Bihar (89,437), and Madhya Pradesh (77,531). Goa is the only state which does not have any such employees.
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