Village Health and Nutrition Days (VHNDs) are a cornerstone of the Government of India’s strategy to provide first-contact primary health care to rural areas. To learn how VHNDs are currently being delivered, we assessed the fidelity of services provided as compared to government norms in a priority district of Uttar Pradesh. We found that the transformative potential of VHNDs to improve population health is only partially being met. A core subset of high-priority services for antenatal care, institutional delivery, and vaccination associated with high-priority government programmes is now being provided quite successfully. Other basic health promotion and prevention services are largely not provided, constituting a critical missed opportunity.
Implementation fidelity of Village Health and Nutrition Days in Hardoi District, Uttar Pradesh, India: A cross-sectional survey
