Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

Programs

HealthLine, Pakistan

last updated Jan 23, 2012

Overview

Implementing organization: 
Carnegie Melon University (CMU)
Implementation Partner(s): 
Health and Nutrition Development Society (HANDS), Aga Khan University (Karachi)
Legal Status: 
Private (not-for-profit)
Year Launched: 
2007
Stage: 
Existing/expansion stage
Income Level of Target Population: 
All income levels

Funding

Primary Source of Funding: 
Donor
Funders: 
Microsoft Research: Digital Inclusion Program, The Pakistan-US Science and Technology Cooperative Program, The Siebel Scholars Foundation, USAID

Technology

Technology Used: 
Phones › Apps/Software, Phones › Voice
Technology Purpose: 
Extending Geographic Access, Improving Diagnosis and Treatment, Other
Summary: 

HealthLine, Pakistan uses an automated phone menu and speech recognition software to provide those who can't read with information about diseases and healthcare.

Key program components: 

One of the chief obstacles to mHealth solutions is literacy, or the lack thereof. To ensure that semi-literate community health workers have access to critical information, Microsoft and others are developing HealthLine, a speech recognition-based information system. The solution is based on Microsoft Speech Server2007 beta software. The menu-driven program can be accessed via landlines or mobile phones. Callers specify a topic (or disease) and are walked through a set of menus until they reach the information they are seeking. The information is then read to them—from a prerecorded message— in their local language. HealthLine was tested among a group of low-literate maternal and child health community health workers in Pakistan in mid-2007. It will continue to be tested in the field with the results informing new features, functionality, and enhancements. Ideally, the solution will be scaled across Pakistan for maximum impact.

Additional Information

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