India has made rapid strides in the health sector since independence. However, various eye opening data from NFHS clearly indicate that access to healthcare still remains a challenge.While the health statistics of rural India continue to be poor, the health status and access to health for the poor in urban slum dwellers has surfaced to be equally deplorable and have less than 4% of government primary healthcare facilities.
Urban slum dwellers suffer from adverse health conditions owing to mainly two reasons –first the lack of education and thus lack of awareness; and second the unwillingness to lose a day’s wage in order to reach the nearest medical facility. Healthcare for underprivileged, which is a desperate need, thus remains unaddressed.The need of the hour is thus a two pronged approach – first to bring quality healthcare services to doorsteps of the needy and second to promote healthcare awareness and contemporary healthcare seeking behavior among the underprivileged .In such a scenario a Ashaa healthcare Center delivery system is the most practical mechanism. And in subscription to this view, Ashaa Foundation has initiated the healthcareprogramme. This is a unique health care programme that seeks to address problems of mobility, accessibility and availability of primary healthcare with a special focus on children and women, in urban slums and remote rural areas.The Ashaa Foundation Health care programme has so far provided free healthcare services to urban slums and remote rural areas.
Ashaa Health interventions work to improve the access to quality healthcare services for the poor and marginalised communities. By identifying the root causes of healthcare challenges, we work at the individual, community, and systemic levels to develop innovative solutions and help implement quality healthcare services. The ambit of our work includes improving of maternal and reproductive health, child health and nutrition, and early identification and treatment of communicable diseases.