Sanket Jain , freelance journalist Kolhapur, India snktjain08{at}gmail.comAccredited social health activists are well known for providing healthcare in rural India. Under India’s universal immunisation programme, Riya should have received at least 10 doses of multiple vaccines by then. Today, seven years later, Riya is not just in better health but goes to school and is treated with respect. Patil is an accredited social health activist (ASHA), part of an all-female group of low paid community health workers who have become an essential part of India’s rural healthcare workforce. There are over a million of these all-female health workers nationwide.

Source: Mint October 22, 2021 09:39 UTC