Photo: Sanket Jain
Many accredited social health activists -- ASHAs -- across India are using WhatsApp to remotely support pregnant women and create safer spaces for women through targeted group channels, where women share their personal experiences and speak candidly in ways they can’t anywhere else. The all-women cadre of 1 million community health-care workers make public health care accessible to people from remote areas and marginalized communities, and it works. In 2006, the year after the Indian government launched the National Rural Health Mission and began appointing ASHAs, India’s maternal mortality rate was 254 deaths per 100,000 live births. By 2020, it had dropped to 96 per 100,000 live births and last year, the World Health Organization honored ASHAs with the Global Health Leader award. The use of WhatsApp began locally with ASHAs themselves, and has evolved based on their experiences.
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