Mothers of Mercy: Life of ASHA workers during the pandemic
World Health Organisation (WHO) recently honoured ASHA volunteers for their crucial role in the pandemic. Here's a tribute to India's one million, all-women ASHA volunteers who, through the pandemic,
ASHA worker Reena Jani accepts her neighbour&rsquos help&mdasha ride to Mathalput Community Health Centre. As a&zwnj frontline&zwnj &zwnjhealth&zwnj &zwnjworker, Jani was one of the early Indians to get inoculated against Covid-19 virus. She had heard rumours of serious side effects from the vaccine and was filled with fright. &ldquoIf something happens to me, what will my children do?" J
Image by Danish Siddiqui / Reuters
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Healthcare workers walk among a brick kiln to administer the Covid-19 vaccine to kiln workers at Kavitha village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India on April 8, 2021. &zwnjIndia was entirely dependent on ASHA workers to make the world"s biggest vaccination drive against the coronavirus pandemic a success in rural parts of the nation.
Image by Amit Dave / Reuters
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Leaving their vehicle behind upon finding the road blocked by a landslide, healthcare workers&mdashwith two blue vaccine boxes slung over their shoulders&mdashtrek to remote villages on a vaccination drive near Malana in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh, September 14, 2021. ASHA workers are neither doctors nor nurses, but they are trained to bridge the healthcare gap where such services a
Image by Adnan Abidi / Reuters
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Deferential to custom but unbowed by her veil, ASHA worker Geeta Chaudry registers vaccine recipients at a vaccination clinic in Aakhtadi of Tonk District in Rajasthan on May 17, 2021. India"s devastating wave of Covid-19 infections had gripped cities and overwhelmed urban health resources. But it also struck deep in rural India, where the extent of the devastation was unknown because of
Image by Rebecca Conway/Getty Images
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Matilda Kullu&rsquos day begins at 5am, preparing lunch for her family of four and feeding the cattle at Gargadbahal village of Odisha&rsquos Sundargarh district. Then Kullu hops on her cycle for door-to-door visits among the 964 people, mostly tribal, in her role as an ASHA worker. It took years for Kullu to educate the villagers who would rather perform black magic to treat an illness t
Image by Raju Chauhan
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Manobesh Mondol, a fisherman, receives a dose of Covishield vaccine from health workers during the "Vaccination on boat" programme in Bali Island, West Bengal, India, July 12, 2021. The residents of the Bay of Bengal delta endure all the miseries Nature throws at them&mdashfrom cyclones to erosion. But the pandemic shook the region until the healthcare workers reached them with the vaccin
Image by Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters
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ASHA workers clean the blue vaccine carriers used for vaccine transport at a primary health centre in Hyderabad on January 29, 2021. As&zwnj &zwnjvolunteers,&zwnj &zwnjtheir&zwnj work hours remain &zwnjflexible&zwnj &zwnjand&zwnj &zwnjmany&zwnj ASHA workers prefer &zwnja&zwnj &zwnjpart-time&zwnj &zwnjjob as it lets&zwnj &zwnjthem&zwnj &zwnjtake&zwnj &zwnjcare&zwnj &zwnjof&zwnj &zwnjtheir&
Image by Noah Seelam / AFP
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ASHA workers admonish wily teenagers roaming without face masks during a screening survey for coronavirus in Pandav Nagar, New Delhi on June 26, 2020. By July 2020, authorities had begun a mammoth screening campaign covering all households to check people for signs of Covid-19. ASHA workers and staff from the civic bodies were drafted for screening and setting up new control rooms to coor
Image by Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
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A health worker stretches herself to vaccinate an elderly woman through the car&rsquos window at a drive-in vaccination program in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Kolkata on June 4, 2021. Dozens of health workers died during the pandemic after exposure to the coronavirus, in part because they lacked protective gear. One study of three Indian states by public health researchers at Ox
Image by Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP
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Sunitha K N, an ASHA worker, readies to leave home for work in Mysuru, Karnataka, on May 18, 2021. The health workers earn around Rs 3,000 monthly, plus incentives based on performance. An ASHA worker looks after at least 200 households. Hence, most ASHAs belong to the village or block they reside in and know every household&mdashgaining the trust of the community over time.
