The Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) in partnership with HealthPhone, Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), Government of India and UNICEF, announced launch of the IAP HealthPhone programme, the world's largest digital mass education programme to face the challenge of malnutrition in women and children, at the national-level in India. The programme will achieve its objectives by widely promoting and distributing four re-edited videos from the Poshan series, jointly produced by MWCD and UNICEF in 18 Indian languages. The Poshan videos address issues of status of women, the care of pregnant women and children under two, breastfeeding and the importance of balanced diet, health and simple changes in nutritional care practices that can notably enhance nutrition levels.
IAP HealthPhone is a public private partnership initiative that is supported by Vodafone India. Vodafone will send out approximately 300 million text messages to its subscribers every year to promote the viewing of the four videos. IAP HealthPhone partners are committed to strengthen the programme through their networks and sync their efforts to address malnutrition systemically. It is a unique programme that leverages the increasing penetration of mobile phones in the country to educate over 6 million girls and women between 13 and 35 years of age and their families on better health and nutrition practices by 2018. They will equip AWW, ASHAs and ANMs with a HealthPhone microSD card, containing a library of videos, to enable them to share health & nutrition knowledge with women, families and the communities they serve. Partner with social media giants (such as Facebook, Twitter and Google) to use their exponentially growing channels to reach more - rural and urban – caregivers.
UNICEF, an integral part of the United Nations, works with governments, communities, civil society organisations, the private sector, and other partners worldwide to advance children’s rights, and is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Says Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF Representative to India, “The consequences of chronic under-nutrition are irreversible and life-long, ultimately leading to a loss estimated to be over 3% of the GDP.”
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