Ashadhara, newborn units and village health workers: what the central health mission actually runs in Keralam
Background
Contracts of 1,495 temporary staff who worked under the National Health Mission in the State have been ended. Those affected include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lab technicians, and the staff who coordinate the work of the Accredited Social Health Activists in the field. The mission also runs Ashadhara, a project for haemophilia and other rare bleeding and clotting disorders. Special newborn units in district hospitals and urban health centres also lean on this staff. Ernakulam and Thrissur had the largest numbers affected, at 183 and 180. Staff under the mission are appointed for one year at a time, and this year the term was stretched twice.
In plain words
NHM National Health Mission — The centrally sponsored mission through which much of the staff and programmes of public health work are funded.
Ashadhara Ashadhara project — A project run through the mission for people with haemophilia and other rare bleeding disorders.