Union Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare virtually launched the Kilkari programme for beneficiaries in local content in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
- It is a Mobile Health (m-health) initiative. 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.
- ‘Kilkari’ (meaning ‘a baby’s gurgle’), is a centralized interactive voice response (IVR) based mobile health service which delivers free, weekly, time-appropriate 72 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.
- Women who are registered in Reproductive Child Health (RCH) portal) based on the woman’s LMP (last menstrual period) or the child’s DoB (Date of Birth), receive a weekly call with pre-recorded audio content directly to the mobile phones of pregnant women and mothers with children under the age of one year.
- Kilkari audio messages are present in the form of voice of a fictitious doctor character called Dr. Anita.
- Kilkari Programme is centrally hosted by MoHFW for all the States/UTs and no further investment in the technology, telephony infrastructure or operational costs is required to be borne by States/UTs.
- This service is FREE of cost for States/UTs and beneficiaries. The programme is service is integrated with centralized Reproductive Child Health (RCH) portal of MoHFW’s and is the single source of information for this mHealth service.
