& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Telehealth can save millions of lives

Aponjon programme told as it celebrates registration of 5 lakh subscribers

Staff Correspondent
Simple but life-saving health information through mobile phones can help save millions of lives particularly of expecting mothers and newborns, speakers told a programme in the capital yesterday.
Dnet, a non-profit social enterprise, and the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA), Bangladesh jointly organised the event at Spectra Convention Centre to celebrate the achievement of Aponjon, a telehealth programme focusing on safe motherhood, that it has achieved registration of half a million subscribers in 17 months.
The celebration coincided with National Safe Motherhood Day.
Innumerable expecting mothers and newborns die in the country every year due to a lack of some simple health advices, said Dr Ishtiaq Mannan, chief of party of MaMoni Health Systems Streghthening
Project, one of the partners implementing Aponjon (dear one).
It is a tremendous accomplishment with simple but innovative health solutions for safe life, said Allyson P Bear, Health Systems Strengthening team leader of the US Agency for International Development that primarily funded the programme.
Kristen Gagnaire, global director of MAMA, said the health service programme intended to achieve two million subscribers by 2015.
Aponjon, implemented in partnership with six non-government organisations and the government, provides maternal and child health solutions through mobile phones messaging. At a rate of Tk 2 per message, subscribers receive health information during pregnancy and until the child is one year old.
The service also offers the opportunity for subscribers to call and receive advices
FROM PAGES
from a certified doctor. It offers free services to 20 percent of the marginalised subscribers.
Expecting mothers, new mothers and family members can dial "16227" to register for the service from any mobile phone network.
Other implementation partners include Johnson and Johnson, mHealth Alliance, United Nations Foundation, and BabyCenter.
Dr Ananya Raihan, executive director of Dnet; Nasreen Fatema Awal, director of Multimode Group; Md Nazrul Islam Khan, secretary to the ministry of information and communication technology; Md Habibur Rahman Khan, joint secretary to the health and family welfare ministry; and Rizwana Rahid Auni, chief executive officer of Dnet, were present.