ASHA for people with diabetes

Asha is a word in Hindi that means hope. ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists) are also female health activist in India. Lakshmi is an ASHA in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. She serves as an interface between the community and the public health system. Lakshmi goes from door-to-door in her community to urge people with diabetes to go get their eyes tested for diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes is rapidly becoming a global epidemic.

In India, there are estimated to be 65 million people with diabetes, which is projected to increase to 134 million by 2045. Diabetic Retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes and is a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness worldwide. Approximately one in five people living with diabetes in India has some degree of DR (13 million in India) and one in ten (6.5 million) has the vision-threatening form of DR.

Thanks to ASHAs like Lakshmi, the Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad has been able to screen and treat about 70,000 people for diabetic retinopathy.

This film gives a glimpse of a typical day in Laskshmi's life.