On a warm afternoon in Angara block of Ranchi district, in eastern India, Anita Devi sits proudly in her courtyard, flipping through a register she uses to record data from the households she visits.
As a community-level facilitator-human resource, or CLF-HR, officer, she is responsible for ensuring that children and pregnant women in every household across four villages receive regular checkups, vaccines, and supplements. Since taking on the role in 2019, she has seen clear progress as more children under the age of 5 are receiving their first vaccines, and community awareness around immunization has grown.
“There was a huge burden of unvaccinated children under 5 when I joined, but doing door-to-door rounds on foot every day has finally paid off. People now insist on going to hospitals and want to be connected to the local ASHA [accredited social health activist] or government-appointed local health worker for deliveries and vaccinations,” Devi said.
About the author
Cheena Kapoorcheenakapoor
Cheena Kapoor is a Delhi-based independent journalist and photographer focusing on health, environmental, and social issues. Her work has been published by The Guardian, The Telegraph, Reuters, BBC, and Al Jazeera, among many others. Her long-term project "Forgotten daughters" about abandoned women in Indian mental asylums has been widely published and exhibited across Europe. Follow Cheena on Twitter and Instagram.
