The government of India has launched four mobile health services, including M-Cessation which reaches out to those who want to quit tobacco through text messages on mobile phones. The objective is to enhance access and make schemes more cost effective and robust.  Union Health Minister JP Nadda while launching the four services (m-Health) – Kilkari, Mobile Academy, M-Cessation and TB Missed Call initiative, said that these are part of the government’s Digital India programme and are in line with the commitment to prioritise public health.

Under ‘Kilkari‘, which means ‘a baby’s gurgle’, delivery of free and weekly 72 audio messages about pregnancy, child birth and child care will be given directly to mobile phones of the families from the second trimester of pregnancy until the child is one year old.

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.

Under the TB Missed Call initiative, a helpline with a toll free number will provide information, counselling and treatment support services for TB.

Mobile tobacco cessation (mCessation) programme based on the joint WHO­ITU initiative — Be Healthy Be Mobile (BHBM) built from best practices in several countries such as the US, Norway, Turkey, the UK — was aimed at reaching out to those willing to quit tobacco use and support them towards successful quitting through text messages sent via mobile phones.

 Did You Know??? 

• India is the second largest consumer of tobacco in the world.
• As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, (GATS India 2010), nearly 35 per cent of adults in India (15 years and above) comprising 275 million people, consume tobacco in some form or the other.
• The most prevalent form of tobacco usage is smokeless tobacco, followed by bidi and cigarette smoking.
• Almost 206 million adults, 25.9 per cent of men and 18.4 per cent women consume smokeless tobacco in the country.
• Tobacco kills almost one million people in India every year (more than combined deaths from HIV, TB and malaria), besides being responsible for high economic cost resulting from treatment of diseases caused by tobacco use.