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Stories from the field: Special series on the COVID-19 response – India (Assam)
Date: 10.12.2020 Region South-East Asia Region Country India
From governance to community surveillance: Assam’s 360 degree COVID-19 response
The state of Assam in northeastern India is showing how primary health care not only makes health services accessible to communities: it is also an effective way to prepare for and tackle health emergencies. At the heart of Assam’s response to COVID-19 are community health workers, locally known as COVID-19 warriors. They are leading surveillance efforts, enabling early detection, isolation and treatment and keeping the virus from spreading further. Learn how India is taking action to better protect its population from COVID-19 and other health threats.
THE LONG READ
Ms Suchitra Goala, 45, is a community health worker (CHW) in Karimganj District in Assam, a state in northeastern India. She is what is known locally as a ‘COVID-19 warrior’. Since the pandemic took hold in March 2020, she has been supporting her local community in the COVID-19 emergency response. In India, CHWs are called accredited social health activist (ASHA), and they serve as the link between communities and health care facilities.
“Being a community health worker and a COVID-19 warrior, I am so proud that I have been contributing in my best possible way to support my fellow villagers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is so heartening to share that I could ensure the home quarantine of 45 people, who returned to my village from other states after the lockdown relaxed. I participated in the Assam Community Surveillance Programme when I visited house-to-house in my area as a part of active community surveillance,” Suchitra said.
Testing, tracing and treatment through the increasing network of primary health care (PHC) centres are crucial to the national response to COVID-19. WHO, through the UHC Partnership, was already working closely with Assam State health authorities to strengthen PHC centres across the state when COVID-19 struck. The PHC network has provided a solid base, not only to make progress towards universal health coverage (UHC), but also to tackle the challenges that COVID-19 brings to communities.
COVID-19 warriors in Assam.
Photo Credit: State IEC Cell, National Health Mission, Assam