Health Equity amongst the urban poor can be a powerful agent of change. Similar to health being critical to a child's development, health equity is an indispensable milestone of a community's development. This can be achieved by strengthening the community's capacity to access public health services while working with public health systems to provide quality services and by changing knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action) is a step towards bridging the health equity gap and going beyond fighting illness to Raising Health For All.
A Continuum of Care Approach
A continuum of care RMNCH+A (Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health) means working with women and children from birth to adulthood in order to break the intergenerational cycle of poor health.
Enhancing public system response to maternal and newborn healthcare
Improving coordination across public health facilities for high risk pregnancies
Encouraging institutional deliveries through the public health system
Ensuring full immunisation in children and exclusive breastfeeding
Identifying, preventing and treating malnutrition
Capacity building to deliver better public services for child health and nutrition
Educating adolescents on nutrition, reproductive health and gender equity and improving emotional resilience
Creating a cadre of youth to become community change agents
Empowering communities and partnering with public systems to respond to gender-based violence
Providing mental health and legal services to women facing violence, and improved knowledge and access to planned parenthood
Improving knowledge and access for planned parenthood
Addressing gender-based inequities is an underlying area of focus across all programmes that SNEHA undertakes, because this is often at the heart of health inequity in communities.
SNEHA works with vulnerable communities, public health and safety systems
to develop evidence-based models to address urban health challenges.
Maternal and Child Health
Know MoreWe work with communities to address health and nutrition challenges among mothers and children through a continuum of care approach.
Public System Partnership
Know MoreWe work with public systems to strengthen delivery of services to vulnerable communities.
Public System Partnership
Empowerment, Health and Sexuality of Adolescents
Know MoreWe work on improving the health and well-being of adolescents and building an adolescent friendly health ecosystem.
Empowerment, Health and Sexuality of Adolescents
Prevention of Violence against Women and Children
Know MoreWe work with communities and public systems to prevent and address gender-based violence in a holistic manner.
Prevention of Violence against Women and Children
EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES
SNEHA works directly with vulnerable communities to improve health seeking behaviours, address gender inequities and promote optimal use of available resources.
STRENGTHENING SYSTEMS
SNEHA’s model is unique as it supports existing government health and safety systems for improving quality of healthcare delivery.
ADVANCING RESEARCH
SNEHA highly values ‘Research, Monitoring & Evaluation and
Impact Mapping’ ,
seeing these as enablers of efficiency and accelerators of change. At a larger level, it works towards creation of evidence-based models of health interventions to inform policy.
We have expanded into nurse-aide training to empower young women and into palliative care to help communities manage life limiting illnesses better; supported by expertise and compassion.
Romila Palliative CarePregnant women
assisted through various programs
(2016-26)
Children screened
for malnutrition
(2016-26)
Reduction in stunting
among children (0-3 years of age) malnutrition
(2021-26)
Reduction in
maternal anemia
(2021-26)
Adolescents identified with
mental health concerns showed improvement after
receiving protocol based intervention from Clinical Psychologist
(2025-26)
Survivors of gender-based
violence reported a reduction in violence levels
(2023-26)
SNEHA's Al-powered WhatsApp chatbot providing maternal and child health guidance anytime, anywhere.
Built on SNEHA's two decades of experience working with women and families in urban communities, Phonewali Didi brings trusted health information closer to women through a WhatsApp platform they already use.
Serving Communities In
Dharavi · Bhiwandi · Malwani · Turbhe
Through simple voice and text conversations in Hindi and Hinglish, women can ask health questions and receive easy-to-understand, personalized information. Phonewali Didi uses Generative AI to respond in real time, while also providing timely, stage-specific guidance based on where a woman is in her pregnancy and motherhood journey.
The chatbot currently supports women with information on antenatal and postnatal care, nutrition, breastfeeding, immunization, institutional delivery, and newborn and child health. Personalized trimester-wise nudges help women receive relevant information at the right time, while the conversational format allows them to seek answers to questions that matter to them.
Phonewali Didi is part of SNEHA's effort to explore how responsible and accessible AI can complement community-based healthcare helping women access reliable information, make informed health decisions, and stay connected to appropriate care when needed.
Blog
Nov 7, 2025
Building Trust, Protecting Futures: How Community Volunteers Strengthen Immunization in Urban Slums
Through its long-term interventions in Mumbai’s M/East ward, SNEHA has built bridges between families, health workers, and systems. Its trained community volunteers— known as Community Action Group (CAG) members— are at the heart of this effort, working tirelessly to ensure no child is left behind.
Media
Nov 13, 2025
Community interventions to prevent violence against women and girls in informal settlements in Mumbai: a theory-driven, pragmatic, cluster-randomised, controlled trial
Co-authored by SNEHA leadership; published by Elsevier in The Lancet Global Health, Volume 13, Issue 12.
Social Media
Nov 15, 2025
Course Alert: Community Mobilisation to Prevent Violence Against Women & Girls
Violence against women and girls is a pervasive issue, but transforming communities transforms systems. Apply for the FREE online course on Community Mobilisation to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls, presented by SNEHA Knowledge Center.
Our Founder and Chairperson, Dr. Armida Fernandez, has been honoured with the Padma Shri 2026, acknowledging decades of unwavering service to newborn health and to communities living at the margins.
An eminent neonatologist, Dr. Fernandez served as Professor and Head of Neonatology and later as Dean at Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion Hospital). Throughout her career, she has been instrumental in saving countless newborn lives and advancing systems of care that significantly lowered neonatal mortality. Among her many contributions, she established Asia’s first Human Milk Bank, a pioneering model that later informed similar initiatives across India.
Following her retirement from public service, Dr. Fernandez founded SNEHA, continuing her life’s work through a community-centred approach. For more than 25 years, SNEHA has addressed critical issues including child malnutrition, violence against women and children, and, in recent years, palliative care, ensuring compassion, dignity, and support for those often left unheard.
As SNEHA celebrates India’s Republic Day this year, this honour makes the occasion even more meaningful, renewing our commitment to the values of service, equity, and dignity for all.
We congratulate Dr. Armida Fernandez on this well-deserved recognition and thank her for inspiring generations through service.
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