ASHA: Accredited Social Health Activist

The full form of ASHA is Accredited Social Health Activist. ASHAs are local women trained to act as health educators and promoters in their communities. Selected from the community itself and accountable to it, the ASHA will be trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system. At present, there are over 9 Lakh ASHAs. The ASHA scheme is presently in place in 33 states and Union Territories (except Goa, Chandigarh & Puducherry). The role of an ASHA is that of a community-level care provider. This includes a mix of tasks: facilitating access to health care services, building awareness about health care entitlements especially amongst the poor and marginalized, promoting healthy behaviors and mobilizing for collective action for better health outcomes.

• ASHAs must primarily be female residents of the village that they have been selected to serve, who are likely to remain in that village for the foreseeable future.
• Married, widowed or divorced women are preferred over women who have yet to marry since Indian cultural norms dictate that upon marriage a woman leaves her village and migrates to that of her husband.
• She should be a literate woman, preference for selection is they must have qualified up to the tenth grade.
• She preferably between the ages of 25 and 45.
• Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) will be chosen through a rigorous process of selection involving various community groups, self-help groups, Anganwadi Institutions, the Block Nodal officer, District Nodal officer, the village Health Committee and the Gram Sabha (local government).

Other full forms of ASHA