Comprising a million, informal, female health workers, India’s ASHA program, stands as the most prominent Community Health Worker (CHW) initiative both nationally and globally. Approaching nearly two decades since inception, ASHAs have become the cornerstone of India’s primary healthcare system and thereby a major contributor to the delivery of healthcare rights. At the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) on May 22, 2022, ASHAs were honored with the Global Health Leaders Award, acknowledging their pivotal role in connecting marginalized communities with health services and recognizing their efforts in ensuring access to primary healthcare, amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic 1. As we commemorate World Health Day 2024, we felt it is an opportune time to pause and reflect on the uncertainties and problematics confronting the programme, both at the level of policy and at the level of the workers themselves.
Conversations on health policy
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