Mobile services to help quit tobacco

The Centre on Friday launched four mobile health services, including M-Cessation, which reach out to people who want to quit tobacco through text messages on mobile phones. 

Health Minister JP Nadda while launching the four services (m-Health) – ‘Kilkari, Mobile Academy, M-Cessation and TB Missed Call initiative – said these are part of the government’s Digital India programme and are in line with the commitment to prioritise public health.

“The m-Health initiatives launched today will enhance access, make our services cost-effective and our systems more robust. We are on our way to realise the vision of our Prime Minister by going digital. These four mobile health services will be a game-changer in health communication. I am confident that these initiatives will bring us closer to people who need our services the most,” the Health Minister said.

Under ‘Kilkar’, meaning a baby’s gurgle’, 72 audio messages about pregnancy, child birth and child care will be sent to the cellphones of women from the second trimester of pregnancy till the child is one-year-old. The messages will be sent in three languages – Hindi, English and Odia. 

In the first phase, Kilkar is being launched in Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and high-priority districts (HPDs) of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Similarly, Mobile Academy is a free audio training course designed to expand and refresh the knowledge base of accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and improve their communication skills. 

Mobile Academy offers ASHAs a training opportunity via their mobile phones, which is both cost-effective and efficient, and has been launched in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.