ASHA scheme makes 'health for all' possible in Punjab village

Sitto Village (Punjab), Mar 20 (ANI): In an effort to make 'health for all' possible in Sitto village in Punjab, the Government is implementing the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) scheme under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

Under the scheme, ASHA workers are not only trying to create increased health awareness among women, but are also trying to increase the manpower of the health department in the state.

"The main aim of implementing ASHA scheme is to decrease the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) which was very high here. An effort was made to lower the infant deaths during the delivery," said Jaspal Singh, sub-divisional medical officer.

The results of the scheme are visible and the mortality among the women and children has fallen.

Nirmala, an ASHA worker, said: "We are employed under the ASHA workers scheme. The government has helped us a lot. We go from house-to-house and urge the pregnant women to deliver only in the hospitals. If there is a need for immunization, we tell them to get it done in the hospitals as the government is doing it for free."

As per government directives, for every one thousand villagers, there has to be one ASHA worker.

Sitto village has a population of approximately two hundred thousand villagers and hence has 187 ASHA workers. By Avtar Gill(ANI)