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 Praekelt.org'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 the last year, the function of Health Alert has expanded to offer information and resources that go beyond just COVID-19. Weekly alerts are sent out to opted-in users that share information on other health topics such as the Ebola and Monkeypox outbreaks. The service also includes a free mental health programme called Breathe, as well as a smoking cessation service, Quit.

Chat to Health Alert

Send "hi" to +41798931892