New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) Mobile health initiative Kilkari was launched with local content in Gujarat and Maharashtra on Wednesday, with Union Minister S P Singh Baghel saying the programme is in line with the government’s commitment to prioritise health infrastructure and strengthen services by leveraging the country’s expanding mobile-phone penetration.
It was launched in the two states virtually by Union Ministers of State for Health Baghel and Bharati Pravin Pawar.
The Kilkari programme is a centralised interactive voice response (IVR) based mobile health service which delivers 72 weekly and time-appropriate audio messages about pregnancy, childbirth and childcare directly to families’ mobile-phones from the second trimester of pregnancy until the child is one-year-old.
Mobile Academy, a free audio training course designed to expand and refresh the knowledge of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and improve their communication skills via their mobile-phones, was also launched.
Pawar associated the launch of the m-health (mobile health) initiative with the rapid speed of transformation of the health sector in the country, keeping with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a digital health India based on harnessing technology for the benefit of people.
The programme aims to offer weekly services and timely accessible, accurate and pertinent 72 audio messages through IVRS about reproductive maternal, neonatal and child health care to the targeted beneficiaries, she said.
Baghel said that “the launch of the Kilkari programme is in line with the government’s commitment to prioritise the public health infrastructure and strengthen citizen-centric health services by leveraging India’s expanding mobile phone penetration”.
Under the leadership of the prime minister, the government has taken several steps towards ensuring the health and well-being of women, he said.
The Kilkari programme is centrally hosted by Union Health Ministry for all states and UTs, and no further investment in the technology, telephony infrastructure or operational costs is required to be borne by them.
This service is free of cost for states, UTs and beneficiaries. Currently, the Kilkari programme is under implementation in 18 states and UTs including Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttarakhand.
The Mobile Academy is operational in 17 states and UTs except Chandigarh with six languages Hindi, Bhojpuri, Odia, Assamese, Bengali and Telugu version. PTI PLB ANB ANB
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