ASHAs give hope in interior areas
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, January 24 2010: Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) recruited under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) have been fairly successful in giving rays of hope in the field of health in many interior and remote areas of the State.

True to the cherished objective of NRHM to provide health care services in interior and rural areas, ASHAs have succeeded in reducing the rate of death caused by unavailability of basic medical services.

Deaths caused by malaria in interior areas of hill districts have been effectively reduced by timely intervention of ASHAs in consultation with doctors.

ASHAs working under NRHM have been fairly successful in providing basic health care services in interior areas of Ukhrul district like Kachai, L Phungyar, Maiton Tera, Aphung, Laisan etc.

ASHA workers providing the needed balm to the villagers

These trained ASHAs have been going around their villages, checking for any health related complaint.

On receiving any such complaint, they would consult doctors and prescribe medicines according to symptoms thus saving the villagers from many diseases.

Laisan village ASHAs K Sanday Rose and HL Honeyjoy have been conducting identification of patients in the village since 2007 .

Talking to The Sangai Express, K Sanday Rose and HL Honeyjoy said that they have been in charge of not only patient identification but also administering polio drops to children, injection of drugs from time to time, regular health check-up of pregnant women and injection of anti-tetanus drugs in three phases.

They went on to claim that since they started working as ASHAs from 2007 there has been no case of death due to malaria, TB or during delivery.

In serious cases, they took patients to the Somdal PHC for treatment.

Delivery cases that would require operation were identified in advance and the expecting mothers were taken to Ukhrul District Hospital, they said.

However, they admitted that there were some cases of death during delivery as they tried for normal delivery unable to ascertain whether the particular cases needed surgical operation or not.

Altogether 50 women have given birth to babies with the help of ASHAs since 2007 till date.

They said that all cases of child delivery were done by them together with local Maibi or mid-wife.

From the teachings of doctors, ASHAs have now been able to identity symptoms of different diseases common in interior areas of hill districts.

After identifying the symptoms, ASHAs prescribed medicines in accordance to instructions given by doctors, Sanduay Rose and HL Hanijoi said.

They said that they also performed duties of a nurse when there was no nurse.

Moreover, they collected blood samples of suspected malaria cases for testing at Somdal PHC.

"Even as TA given to ASHAs under NRHM could not meet basic household requirements, we go for our duties leaving behind all household works in the interest of providing health care service to the villagers", they said.

"The TA given to us for a three-day training programme of ASHAs at Somdal PHC could not meet out travelling expenses as we had to go one day in advance and return one day later", the two Laisan ASHAs said.

Knowing this, the doctor gave them extra money on some occasions from his own pocket.

They lamented that one child succumbed in December last year following a spell of high fever and cough.