The Village Health Worker program was launched in order to address the rural health problems of the Osmanabad District in Maharashtra. The program was aimed to create a sustainable model for health care by training local rural women to deliver basic health services in their own villages. The goal of the Village Health Worker program is to provide primary health care at the village level to prevent illnesses from progressing to a more serious and costly state. The women are taught to identify and refer serious or life-threatening illnesses to the HMF Hospital or any other institution that provides health services. A number of learning methods are used during the training of Village Health Worker, including films, focus group discussions, and lectures by doctors. The women learn to use a stethoscope, blood pressure monitor and many other tools to analyze health issues in the village. The first Village Health Worker was trained in 1997 and the program has expanded significantly since then. Halo Medical Foundation has trained a total of 450 women based on theVillage Health Worker model throughout India. Currently, 38 women work within HMF's project area in the Osmanabad District.
The Village Health Worker program was started in 1995 and completed in 2006. HMF engaged these workers in a variety of projects from 2006 onwards and today, 4 workers have been promoted to the supervisor level. More than 70% of HMF’s Village Health Workers have also been selected as ASHA’s through the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).The Village Health Workers are currently well trained to monitor the activities of microfinance and development projects.The future of the Village Health Worker program lies in making the village health workers self-sufficient and independent by providing them with a practical and profitable skill set.
Presently, in 2014, 38 Village Health Workers are connected with HMF and involved in violence prevention programs and research activities