Keeping tab on child, maternal health gets smarter in Raj
Rajasthan health department began distribution of tablets equipped with an e-janswasthya application among ASHAs and ANMs of seven districts – Churu, Dholpur, Jhalawar, Banswara, Jhunjhunu, Pali and Tonk
Accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) carrying heavy registers with hand-written details on pregnant women, antenatal care, post-natal care and immunisation of children will soon become a thing of the past.
On Monday, the Rajasthan health department began distribution of tablets equipped with an e-janswasthya application among ASHAs and ANMs of seven districts – Churu, Dholpur, Jhalawar, Banswara, Jhunjhunu, Pali and Tonk – to improve data collection and overall standard of child and maternal health services in the state. The programme was organised to mark the World Population Day.
“With the e-janswasthya application on tablets, ASHAs and ANMs, who are the frontline health workers, could maintain all the details on their fingertips,” director of family welfare Dr VK Mathur told HT.
A total of 5,493 tablets will be distributed among ANMs and ASHAs of the seven districts. The UNICEF has contributed 1,500 tablets.
“One district each from the seven divisions of the state has been selected as of now. Tablets would be distributed among ANMs and ASHAs in the remaining districts in the second phase,” Mathur said.
He added that now information on pregnant women, mothers and newborns will be fed on these hand-held machines and data will get updated on the central server in Jaipur. “If Internet is not working then the machines will work offline and will transfer the data on getting the Internet connection,” he said. Earlier, all these data was fed in registers.
The e-janswasthya service application will send alert messages to ASHAs and ANMs on task at hand --which pregnant women have to be checked, children to be immunised among others.
Idea conceived in 2012
Director of family welfare Dr VK Mathur said the idea of launching a mobile application for compiling data on immunization, pregnant women, antenatal and post-natal car was conceptualised in 2012 with technical support from the UNICEF.
A trial was conducted by the UNICEF at Jasol block in Barmer district in 2014.
“After getting encouraging results, a presentation was given to the chief minister, who announced the budget in 2015-16 for the same. The proposal was sent to the government of India, which launched it in the name of ANMOL (ANM Online) this year on pilot basis in Andhra Pradesh,” Mathur said.