Consider the following statements regarding the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) program:

1. A key objective of the National Rural Health Mission is to ensure that every village has a trained female community health worker to enhance rural healthcare services.

2. An ASHA is preferably a local woman, married/widowed/divorced, aged 25 to 45 years, with basic literacy and trained to provide essential health services.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

The correct answer is option 3.

In News

• ASHA workers in Thiruvananthapuram have been protesting for fair wages and better incentives, citing concerns over workload and financial sustainability.

Key Points

• The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) introduced ASHA workers as a key component to provide basic healthcare, promote public health awareness, and connect rural communities with the formal health system.
• The program ensures that each village has at least one trained female community health worker, responsible for maternal and child healthcare, immunization drives, and disease control programs. Hence, Statement 1 is correct.
• ASHA workers are selected from their own village community and are preferably married, widowed, or divorced women aged 25-45 years with basic literacy.
• They undergo multiple phases of training to develop healthcare skills and are responsible for first-contact healthcare, mobilizing people for health programs, and distributing essential medicines. Hence, Statement 2 is correct.

Additional Information

• ASHAs are not salaried employees but receive performance-based incentives for tasks such as immunization, maternal care, and awareness campaigns.
• The ASHA program is operational across all Indian states and UTs except Goa.
• The program is crucial for bridging the gap between rural communities and public health systems, especially in remote areas.