Arogyamithras, a group of 8 female community health workers was trained for delivering last mile health care services and emergency first aid in Majuli - a geographically challenging landscape in Assam. They were first trained in the year 2020 by Baptist Christian Hospital, Tezpur and later on a follow up booster training in 2021. They play a key role in ensuring that the community in the 13 villages within the island gets access to primary health care services like blood sugar test, BP etc. at their doorstep.
Many times, the foresight of Arogyamithras prevented undesirable outcomes. Anamila Kuli, a woman living in a village surrounded by the Subansri river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra faced issues like low BP and anemia during her pregnancy. The transportation facilities and connectivity to this village was also poor with no health center within the village. Krishna, an arogyamithra was in constant touch with this lady and monitored her condition periodically with the support of a GNM Nurse. One day, Krishna noticed that Anamila was getting very weak and found that her BP was getting very low. She immediately called a doctor and he asked to take her to the health center as soon as possible. Krishna recalls the event “I immediately called the PDS staff for the support of the volunteer army as we were not able to arrange any transportation facility to take her to the hospital. They immediately came with a hand cart in which she was taken to the hospital which was 8 KM away.” Anamila delivered a baby soon after reaching the health center. It was the timely intervention along with the support that helped the mother and baby to be safe.
Instances like acting in time to take patients in emergency situations to the nearby PHCs even during situations like flood was managed by Arogyamithras. There are many more similar stories where the arogyamitras proved to be the community’s first point of contact when it comes to health services. These dedicated frontline workers are doing their best, says the community, revering their service.
