Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA)
The Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) is a trained female community health volunteer serving as the first point of contact between the community and the public health system.
About ASHA
The Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) is a trained female community health volunteer serving as the first point of contact between the community and the public health system. Under the National Health Mission (NHM), 2,650 ASHAs are deployed across Tamil Nadu, primarily in tribal, remote, hilly, difficult-to-reach and underserved areas.
ASHAs play a vital role in promoting preventive, promotive and basic curative healthcare by facilitating access to maternal, newborn, child, adolescent and public health services. They also support community mobilization, health awareness, disease prevention and timely referral to health facilities.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
Maternal Health
ASHAs promote safe motherhood by ensuring timely registration, regular antenatal care and institutional delivery for every pregnant woman.
- Promote early registration of pregnancy and regular Antenatal Care (ANC).
- Facilitate institutional deliveries under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY).
- Identify and refer high-risk pregnancies under Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA).
- Ensure postnatal care visits and counselling for mothers.
Newborn and Child Health
ASHAs provide home-based care for newborns and young children, ensuring healthy growth, nutrition and immunization.
- Conduct scheduled Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) visits.
- Provide Home-Based Young Child Care (HBYC) services.
- Promote exclusive breastfeeding and appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices.
- Monitor child growth and facilitate early identification of malnutrition.
- Ensure complete immunization of eligible children.
Adolescent Health
ASHAs promote adolescent health by creating awareness on nutrition, menstrual hygiene, anaemia prevention and facilitating participation in adolescent health programmes.
- Promote awareness on adolescent health, nutrition, menstrual hygiene and anaemia prevention.
- Mobilize adolescents for Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) activities.
Family Planning
ASHAs provide counselling on family planning methods and facilitate access to contraceptive services, empowering families to make informed reproductive health decisions.
- Provide counselling on family planning methods.
- Facilitate access to contraceptive services, including spacing and permanent methods.
Nutrition and Anaemia Control
ASHAs promote balanced nutrition and support anaemia prevention among pregnant women, lactating mothers, children and adolescents through awareness, screening and supplementation.
- Promote balanced nutrition among pregnant women, lactating mothers, children and adolescents.
- Support Anaemia Mukt Bharat initiatives through awareness, screening and Iron-Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation.
Disease Prevention and Public Health
ASHAs actively support National Health Programmes and community-based disease prevention initiatives to improve public health outcomes.
Support National Health Programmes including:
Community Mobilization
ASHAs encourage community participation in health programmes, awareness campaigns and preventive healthcare activities.
- Mobilize the community for Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Day (VHSND), immunization sessions, health camps and other public health initiatives.
- Promote health-seeking behaviour and healthy lifestyle practices.