World Health Organisation

Then

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the world in early 2020, misinformation was as dangerous as the virus itself.

In partnership with Praekelt.org, the World Health Organization (WHO) needed a scalable service to share correct and up-to-date health information with people across the world. This information needed to be accessible and free, making a WhatsApp chatbot the perfect solution.

The solution

Using Reach Digital Health's behavioural chat platform, Turn.io, WHO launched its first-ever WhatsApp information service, enabling tens of millions of people around the world to access reliable, up-to-date information about the outbreak.

WHO's free, automated 24-hour WhatsApp Health Alert provides up-to-date COVID-19 information including the latest figures, how the virus spreads, symptoms and treatment via a user-friendly menu of options, but it does more than that.

Now

In recent years, the function of Health Alert has expanded far beyond its initial focus on COVID-19. The service now provides trusted, evergreen health information to both citizens and healthcare workers around the world.

Users who have opted in for updates receive weekly alerts with global health-related news, as well as urgent updates tailored to specific regions during disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and other emergencies. Health Alert also supports healthcare workers with accessible fact sheets and practical tools to help them up-skill on key health topics.

The platform includes a range of resilience-building programmes for all users, such as the Wellbeing Challenge, which teaches simple stress-reduction techniques, and a dedicated smoking cessation service called Quit.

With user numbers growing each week, the service continues to expand – new modules on resilience and additional health information are currently in development.

Chat to Health Alert

Send "hi" to +41798931892