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WEKU
WEKU
Ari Daniel

A robot answers questions about health. Its creators just won a $2.25 million prize

South Africa Africa Pregnancy subSaharan Africa
A program called MomConnect fields questions via mobile phone about pregnancy and babies. It started in South Africa and now is offered in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Timor-Leste as well. (MomConnect)

Can a robot provide helpful answers to your health concerns? Like, ​​"I'm 39 weeks pregnant and I have a slightly pink discharge." Or "what should I pack in my hospital bag?"

That's the goal of Reach Digital Health, an organization that uses mobile technologies — SMS and WhatsApp messaging — to provide helpful health-care information and guidance to people across sub-Saharan Africa who can't easily reach a health-care provider. As a testament to their success, the 15-year-old group just received one of this year's five Skoll Awards for Social Innovation of $2.25 million, presented this week in Oxford, England.

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