Village Health Workers Vital

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Jan 2, 2008
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Village health workers are vital to the improvement of rural areas worldwide. 80% of all health problems can be managed by individuals if they are educated by the health worker. This film covers work that is taking place in the state of Maharashtra, India. (visit http://www.jamkhed.org for more information). A 2007 film - 7:12 min. The Village Health Worker (VHW) acts as the local agent of positive health and social change. She is selected by her community and receives training in health, community development and organization, communication skills, and personal development from CRHP. Her primary role is to freely share the knowledge she obtains with everyone in the community, to organize community groups and to facilitate action, especially among women, the poor and marginalized. At the outset, many of these VHWs were often illiterate women from the untouchable (Dalit) caste. The concept and utilization of the VHW has been internationally recognized and often emulated for its dramatic positive impact on public health at the community level. VHW training was designed to empower these often oppressed women by increasing their knowledge, building skills, and demystifying medicine so as to truly put health in the people's hands. The initially high rates of diseases and premature deaths in the area were primarily linked to malnutrition, water-borne diseases resulting in diarrhea and infections, untreated communicable diseases, lack of family planning, and harmful superstitious beliefs and practices. The training these women received opened a doorway for effective, locally-managed and relatively simple interventions to halt this vicious cycle that was causing so much pain and suffering. The VHWs, working entirely as volunteers, became empowered by learning skills with which to earn a living through micro-enterprise. As community acceptance and trust in these VHWs began to grow so did the health of their villages. As individual villages dramatically improved thei
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