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Masuri Gagrai, 28-Year-Old ASHA Worker, Is Leading This Jharkhand Village In Maternal-Child Health And Nutrition

Masuri Gagrai has been working primarily on creating awareness about the health and nutrition of expectant mothers and children. Besides, she educates women on breastfeeding, nutrition, maternal health and on the importance of institutional delivery.

28-year-old Masuri Gagrai is a member of the ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) fleet, who is working towards revolutionising the health care system in Laujora Kalan, a village in Jharkhand.

Ms. Gagrai primarily works towards the health and nutrition of pregnant and lactating women and their children, and quashes the traditional idea of "one meal a day" for these women.

The young healthcare worker has undergone training in a non-profit voluntary organisation, Ekjut, on breastfeeding, maternal, newborn, and child health, nutrition, the importance of institutional delivery, etc., and is practically leading the village.

She uses pictorial cards to teach women when and how to breastfeed, as well as what foods they should eat as lactating mothers. She visits door-to-door to deliver the message

In her three years of service as an ASHA worker, Masuri Gagrai has been a messiah for several infant lives and expectant mothers. Besides, she has significantly improved the uptake of immunization services and ensured more rural women give birth in hospitals.

When the novel coronavirus hit the country in 2020, Ms. Gagrai also took on the additional task of educating the villagers about the outbreak, the quarantining management in remote areas, medications, vaccinations, etc.