National Institute of Health & Family Welfare
Why in News
- Recently, the 43rd Annual Day of the National Institute of Health & Family Welfare (NIHFW) was organised.
- On the occasion, the Union Health Minister emphasized that synergy and cooperation between institutions needed to counter India’s Public Health challenges.
Key Points
- The National Institute of Health & Family Welfare (NIHFW) is situated in Delhi and was established in 1977.
- NIHFW is the premier organisation under Ministry Of Health and Family Welfare for capacity building through training of health professionals, frontline health workers such as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANMs) and other central and state officers & healthcare staff.
Accredited Social Health Activist
- An Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) is a community health worker instituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) as a part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The mission began in 2005.
- ASHAs must primarily be female residents of the village that they have been selected to serve, who are likely to remain in that village for the foreseeable future.
Auxiliary Nurse Midwife
- Auxiliary nurse midwife, commonly known as ANM, is a village-level female health worker in India who is known as the first contact person between the community and the health services.
- ANMs are regarded as the grass-roots workers in the health organisation pyramid.
- Their services are considered important to provide safe and effective care to village communities.
- The role may help communities achieve the targets of national health programmes.