New Delhi: Mobile health initiative Kilkari was launched with local content in Gujarat and Maharashtra on Wednesday (February 12), 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.
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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.
Minister 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”.
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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.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
